[kwlug disc.] anyone local using an openmoko phone?

[Andrew Kohlsmith]

On Friday 24 August 2007 3:30:34 am Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> > Be careful; the phone, even once released to consumers, I imagine
> > will NOT be polished.  I'm getting it SPECIFICALLY because of its
> > open design.  I can hack the UI, I can hack the apps, I can make the
> > phone do all of the things that the Treos and Blackberries and
> > iPhones either can't do, or have been crippled from doing.

> but the phone coming out in oct/nov *is* supposed to be a
> consumer-ready version, is it not?  it's just the current developer
> version that's still rough around the edges, at least the way i read
> it.

Colour me skeptical, but I have a strong feeling that "consumer-ready" from 
these guys is not the same as "consumer ready" from Motorola or Samsung or 
Nokia.  Maybe I'm being too hard on my favourite operating system, but off 
the top of my head, I can't think of any embedded appliances that *emphasize* 
or openly advertise their use of Linux being truly "consumer-ready".

Linksys?  Never emphasized
Tivo?  Never emphasized
Neuros?	Never emphasized (little icon on their product page only)
Hauppauge? Never emphasized (mentioned in tech specs)
Sharp? Linux mentioned, but this isn't really "consumer-ready" either
Palm?  ALP is vapourware, and from the sounds of it they took all that was 
good in Palm and threw it out the window, including consumer readiness.

I'm sure I'm missing critical ones which counter my point, but you get the 
idea.  It seems that projects which create Linux appliances and tout their 
use of Linux lack either the UI/QA people, or perhaps the directive which 
demands the product truly be consumer-ready.

-A.