@@@ Pre-order your UBUNTU EDGE convergence phone today :) @@@

[Scott Sullivan]

On 07/26/2013 11:22 AM, Kristian Erik Hermansen wrote:
> Do it right now :)
>
> Pre-order link:
> http://igg.me/at/ubuntuedge/x/4070157
>
> May the source be with you,
>

While I like to see these kind of projects make their way to fruition, I 
feel the need to point out that is is in no way a 'pre-order'.

A pre-order presumes in most cases that it is an already funded product 
with expected delivery date. Additionally a pre-order is simply securing 
your access to the first run of stock at that release date.

This is a crowd-funding campaign. There is no product yet, there is no 
backing capital, and there is no guarantee it'll make it to market 
(especially if the campaign fails and then again even if it succeeds).

It this same miss-conception that prompt Kickstarter to educate it's 
'crowd venture capitalists' on that point. See their Blog entry below.

http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/kickstarter-is-not-a-store

IndieGoGo is no different.

Now, if we want to talk about the merits of the project, there are just 
some details I find lacking.

I don't see an SoC selection, which would likely be dated on arrive, so 
the might be holding off until the know their funded. So we can't know 
the specs of how Open Source friendly the vendor will be.

Canonical has shown their willingness to include proprietary drivers. So 
I could see them accepting that in this device and ergo making it very 
difficult for other OSes to run on the hardware with out significant 
reverse engineering required.

Based on these concerns this device isn't for me. Others individual 
assessment might vary. I would like to hear folks thoughts and evidence 
backed comments on my concerns.

On a whole, I hope they do succeed. It this will open up new leverage 
and markets for Open Source and Free software by really proving mass 
market demand.

In the mean time I'll keep an eye on the EOMA-68 Card and Vivaldi Spark 
tablet. Their transparency and greater commitment to Free Software has 
my attention.

-- 
Scott Sullivan
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