Ubuntu Edge

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 02:51:45PM -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:
> I haven't studied this closesly since I wrote it off early, but I'll
> explain why.
> 
> What is the innovation here?
> - sexy new hardware
> - sexy old/new OS
> 
> Attmepting two innovations at once severely reduces your chances of
> success (or reduces your risk tolerance in each innovation, an
> unfortunate thing).
> 
> What's interesting about each?
> 
> Sexy new hardware: stated goal is to make it capable of being your
> desktop, when plugged into stuff like a monitor and keyboard.  That's
> interesting to me.  Motorola tried that and failed.
> 
> Everything else appears to be the same goals as many other handset
> makers are striving for, and doing well.  I don't think that I have to
> front the risk to make this happen, it will anyway.
> 
> Sexy old/new OS:  Shuttleworth is an interesting guy.  He's on a very
> different value-system from me.  I don't like where Ubuntu has been
> going and I imagine that the phone will only be more off-track.

Yeah it's a strange world where Ubuntu is heading from my point of view.

Of course I am not sure where Microsoft is heading either given what
they thought was a good idea in Windows 8.

> Will the Linux we're comfortable be any more visible on Ubuntu for
> phones than on Adroid?
> 
> A project closer to my heart was the Neo FreeRunner.  We all know how
> that turned out.

Yeah I remember that.

> How about Replicant?  I've not followed that, but it seems
> interesting.

Well it certainly improves some of the bad parts of your typical Android
build.

> "Resolution" is ambiguous these days.  As you later said: not enough
> pixels on the screen.  You didn't object to the pixel density.
> 
> I guess it would be great for a phone right now.  But phones seem to
> get stale within a couple of years.  And this phone is still perhaps a
> year out.

Yeah it will look even more dated by then.

> Interesting to have Ubuntu.  Not good enough to invest a lot of time
> into.

I don't need a portable desktop.  Where am I going to find a screen and
mouse/keyboard lying around not in use that I can use with the correct
type of HDMI cable?

> I've forgotten which of the many possible objections you might have
> are central.  Would Replicant address some of them?

Not really.  I don't like that google claims to be open source when
in fact it is a closed development process that eventually releases
source code.

Also I don't like java, and android apps are written in java.

The only phone I know of with a decent language API for apps right now
is the Apple stuff, and I really hate their policies towards their users.

> The mobile phone culture is really wrong for me.  The default
> expectation of massive information leaks is horrible.  It would be
> great if there was an alternative that was mainstream.  Ubuntu's
> behaviour suggests they are part of the problem, not the solution.
> 
> I love (some) mobile phone hardware.  I just bought a Nexus 4 phone
> for somelthing like $150, no commitment.  That's awesome.  1280x768
> isn't good enough for Lennart.  It's good enough for me, at least for
> now.  I intend to discover if it is all I need to carry
> when I leave the house.

Well I use a Nokia 6086.  I think the screen is 320x240.  It makes
phone calls.  It's a good cell phone.  It fits in my pocket without
risking damaging it. :)

I will get a smartphone when someone makes a good one worth carrying
around.

> I think the saddest lack of pixels is in notebooks.  Mainstream
> netbooks had significantly fewer (1024x600) than my new phone.  Most
> other notebooks are 1366x768.  Yuck.  Only the 15" MacBook Pro with
> Retina display (2880x1800; $2199) beats my Nexus 10 tablet
> (2560x1200; $409).

Yeah my laptop is only 1920x1080.  I wish it had more.

> My tastes may differ from the mainstream.  I see very little mention
> of the Nexus 10 in Kijiji which suggests few were bought
> (alternatively: few are unloved).

My wife has a Transformer Infinity, which is 1920x1200 on a 10" tablet.
She likes it.  The keyboard dock with the extra 5 hours of battery is
an interesting feature.

-- 
Len Sorensen
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