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

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007, Andrew Kohlsmith wrote:

> On Friday 24 August 2007 3:30:34 am Robert P. J. Day wrote:

> > 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.

points well taken, but the openmoko folks are certainly *implying*
that these things will be ready for prime time:

http://www.openmoko.com/about-index.html

"Phase 2: Mass Market Sale

Online sales will continue. We will also be available in a retail
stores and selected carriers around the world. At this point, we hope
your mom and dad will want to buy a Neo, too. The next generation
OpenMoko device will also be introduced at this time."

when you're advertising a $450US+ phone that claims to be ready for
"your mom and dad", that's setting a pretty high bar.  once you shell
out that kind of cash, anything short of operating smoothly and
reliably is simply unacceptable.

rday