Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ubuntu Edge

indiegogo.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

331–340 of 390 posts

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#331

Post by robjh »

laxatives wrote: post #178

Am I the only one not using paypal for large purchases? I came home just to verify my paypal account (required for purchases over $500 and needs a check to get the routing info), but it takes 2-3 days to complete the process. I would love to support this project, but it doesn't look the logistics of it are going to work out for me. edit: Just got off the phone and my account was actually restricted for some reason. I…

I didn't have a paypal account before last night. After signing up I found the payment gateway quite broken (paypal have sent me several emails now saying i have successfully added a card ending in 0000). So now I have £800 floating around somewhere in cyberspace, accounts on two websites that I don't care to give any business to and most key to the issue; no pledge to this project.

Screw Paypal!

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#332

Post by ProblemFactory »

tonyblundell wrote: post #325

I really like the idea of an Ubuntu phone, but the desktop thing is just weird. I really can't see a use-case for it. Aside from a drastic increase in the chances of dropping my entire computing resources in a toilet, or leaving them in a pub, usable desktops can be had for around £200. And you still need a desk at home with a monitor, keyboard and mouse. At a time when people have largely ditched that idea in favour…

A phone that docks as a desktop Ubuntu would be perfect for my use case.

I use desktop computer (Mac Mini) in three locations, and I have bought spare keyboards, dual monitors and mice for all of these. My phone is already more powerful than the desktop. But even when I had a laptop, I never used it on the move - always plugging into docks with monitors and full-size keyboards.

It would be very convenient to have a single computer to set up and carry with me in a pocket, instead of having to either sync work and settings via "the cloud" all the time, or carry a backpack for the mini.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#333

Post by rimantas »

socceroos wrote: post #256
nnash wrote: post #59

I really think they're overestimating who they perceive their target audience to be. 830USD is more than an unlocked iPhone 5...

I think you'll find that, with due respect, this will kick an iPhone 5's ass around the neighbourhood and back by the time it's released (pending funding success). Not least because it will have better specifications.

Specs don't make the phone. Original iPhone with lousy specs still would kick some modern Android phones asses in smooth-scrolling department.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#334

Post by txutxu »

txutxu wrote: post #238

So how this works... ? I fund, then Amazon tracks what I search by default on my machine ? Or I fund and you FIGHT AGAINST a project maintained by voluntary people ? OK, I 'll NOT fund you.

I see down votes in this comment I did.

Sorry if someone did feel offended.

I did feel offended by Cannonical seeking my funds, and I've my personal reasons to not fund them.

Maybe I did not express it the best way, but anyway it's my personal opinion.

I could fund them if I could make them sign a contract, about what and how is going to be done. I don't trust them, and what I did say in that comment it's just 2 little examples.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#335

Post by workbench »

weisser wrote: post #243
slgeorge wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the things that's interesting about the phone industry is that in general there's no equivalent of the special tech-focused PC platforms. So Ubuntu Edge is a way to unlock both a new software platform (Ubuntu phone) but also to bring forward a set of hardware technologies that won't be in the mainstream for a while. It's a really high target caused by how expensive these platforms are to manufacture. But if we…

Thanks for doing this campaign! It takes courage to post a goal like that. I'd much rather give you $600 than pay AT&T and others for the "privilege" of an unlocked phone. I'm happy to have gotten my pledge in and look forward to many exciting updates :)

You're not paying that much for the "privilege" of an unlocked phone, it's more when you pay any less than that you're sharing thew phone cost with AT&T and locking you into the network is their side of the bargain.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#336

Post by oblique63 »

TheLegace wrote: post #280
oblique63 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I refuse to believe Canonical want to enter the hardware market I don't know, from all the design hints Canonical's been dropping in the last few years, it seems like they really are trying to place themselves as direct competitors to apple, however naive/overambitious that may sound. So a play for hardware wouldn't surprise me that much. I think this stunt would make much less sense if it were purely to advance an…

In the video Mark says that they're not making it for consumers and saying that they want other companies to do it and they will show them kind of thing. It doesn't sound to inspiring in the long term though.

> they want other companies to do it and they will show them

Isn't that what the iphone inadvertently did anyway though? If Edge succeeds, the logical consequence would be that other manufacturers would start to pay attention in one form or another, Canonical just seems to be upfront about the fact and is trying to presumably leverage it somehow.

Apple's strategy is based around ios exclusivity on a limited set of 'high-end' devices though, so it's hard to predict what exactly Canonical is planning for after the Edge succeeds/fails. I'm fairly certain Shuttleworth is heavily inspired by the Apple playbook, but their hints at android-like distribution are admittedly somewhat confusing. It's almost like they want to do both modes of attack, but I'm not sure how that would work (nor how competing directly against android would succeed either for that matter). Only time will tell.

Personally, I find the sheer fact that they're actually Open and trying something new to be quite inspiring on it's own. Long-term? That's anyone's guess, but I wouldn't exactly bet against them at this point, that's for sure.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#337

Post by workbench »

mtgx wrote: post #106
mrt0mat0 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i have to wonder how many ubuntu users are using ubuntu simply for the cost of owning it ($0). If that group is high, which i think it is, it may imply that a lot of those same users, might not want to put money into a project. Speculation.

I think your speculation is quite wrong. Linux users are typically the highest payers for games, on average.

A man in a desert will also pay a lot more for a glass of water.

Your comment isn't really as relevant as you think it is. It would suggest Linux would be a highly lucrative platform to target for games, however the more normal it becomes to port games to Linux the less likely people would be to pay that price. This would happen much faster than you would think too.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#338

Post by mtgx »

vog wrote: post #326
reedlaw wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This hardware looks like it blows everything else out of the water. So far, Firefox OS hardware offerings have been on the low-end.

This is a bit counter-intuitive, I think, because although Ubuntu's mission is "for the people", they target high-end smartphones instead of low-end smartphones. So in relatively poor countries those Ubuntu phone won't spread that much, while FirefoxOS seems to be spreading there quite fast.

That's a good point, and I'm sure Canonical will do that in the future, too, but then they'll only be able to tout Ubuntu Touch's features and apps, not of the "full Ubuntu". The full Ubuntu needs the kind of hardware the Edge will have to get decent performance when used in PC mode. If they made it low-end, they could only use Ubuntu Touch in there, and that suffers from the same problem as FF OS - no native apps, just web apps.

After they build this "halo" device, they will be able to get some apps for Ubuntu Touch, and then build low-end phones. Ubuntu Edge is for people who want both a smartphone and a "PC", all in one (if you already have an extra monitor).

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#339

Post by tehwalrus »

slacka wrote: post #278
seabrookmx wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The S4 has a 1080p screen (better than the edge) a Quad (comparable to the edge) and with SD cards, can be expanded to 128gb of storage on the cheap. Not to mention the app selection for Android is unbeatable. Sure it didn't have many apps in the early days, but because it was one of the first to market, it will retain this lead. Look at HP's touchpad, BB10, and Windows Phone - they've had years to catch up and have…

I have excellent vision, and I can't see the pixels on the 720p Nexus 4, nevermind the S4. I'm so sick of people in this thread claiming the S4 pentile 1080p S4 is better than a 720p display. When you double the resolution, you quadruple the number of pixels that must be rendered. This means that given the same CPU, your 1080p phone is going to be 50% slower in games and draw more battery power. Give me longer batter…

I tried to use android by buying a galaxy note before ICS and OpenGL rendering - it was awful. The same internals as the S2 with three times the pixels! I should have waited for the S3 for my experiment.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#340

Post by vog »

mtgx wrote: post #338
vog wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bit counter-intuitive, I think, because although Ubuntu's mission is "for the people", they target high-end smartphones instead of low-end smartphones. So in relatively poor countries those Ubuntu phone won't spread that much, while FirefoxOS seems to be spreading there quite fast.

That's a good point, and I'm sure Canonical will do that in the future, too, but then they'll only be able to tout Ubuntu Touch's features and apps, not of the "full Ubuntu". The full Ubuntu needs the kind of hardware the Edge will have to get decent performance when used in PC mode. If they made it low-end, they could only use Ubuntu Touch in there, and that suffers from the same problem as FF OS - no native apps, j…

> suffers from the same problem as FF OS - no native apps, just web apps

In my opinion, this is one of the main features of FirefoxOS: Every app has to build on open (web) standards. No vendor lock-in, no trying to impose proprietary native APIs on the app developers.

The market would be a lot more efficient of all smartphone OS were forced to push their great features by improving and extending open standards instead of locking all interesting stuff into their proprietary so-called "native" [1] APIs.

[1] For instance, is WebGL any less "native" than other 3D APIs just because it is accessible from the JavaScript VM instead of say, some Java VM?

Post reply on HN