Dashel Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 That is a good point, I can't help but think such projects have wasted much more than the target sum here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperAFK Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I don't think they really expected this to actually work, its mostly just a marketing stunt, where they show that there is indeed a lot of interest in ubuntu phone, as a way to attract more backers, even if they don't complete the funding goal. This obviously isn't their sole strategy for ubuntu phone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted August 5, 2013 Member Share Posted August 5, 2013 I wouldn't be much surprised if Ubuntu announced toward the end that they were going to supply the rest of the money, or that they had gained some huge corporate sponsor. I think they just wanted to see how much individual response they would get before they did that. Or maybe not, who knows for sure with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahhell Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Like no one saw this failing. :rolleyes: Lord Method Man 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I wouldn't be much surprised if Ubuntu announced toward the end that they were going to supply the rest of the money, or that they had gained some huge corporate sponsor. I think they just wanted to see how much individual response they would get before they did that. Or maybe not, who knows for sure with them. Why would they do that, waste money making tens of thousands of devices no ones buying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted August 5, 2013 Member Share Posted August 5, 2013 Why would they do that, waste money making tens of thousands of devices no ones buying... We could ask Microsoft the same question. Luc2k and Cute James 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 The difference is they expected RT to sell, and it still might in the next gen, it was a bit early. they already tested the waters on this and KNOW it won't sell before they start making it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperAFK Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 EDIT:nvm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I never really understood why they tried for phone + OS, when it was never aimed at mass market. If it was only ever a niche product, then why not just release the OS on it's own and let people put it on their own phones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 They have not made these devices yet dude, thats what the fund-raiser is for. they would go into production AFTER they raised the money, thats the whole point of the crowdfunding... Canonical does not have the resources to manufacture these devices, UNLESS the goal is met. If they don't reach the goal then they don't really lose anything... Afaik there isn't even a working prototype yet, which is the reason they used indiegogo instead of kickstarter (because kickstater requires a working hardware prototype and indiegogo doesn't). They have not gone and "made tens of thousands of devices that no one is buying"... Do you honestly believe that they have already spent money producing thousands of phones before they even have the funding? Read the posts I replied to to get the context of the discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperAFK Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Read the posts I replied to to get the context of the discussion. Yeah, I managed to miss the quote in your post, apologies :) You are right, it would make no sense for mark to come in and fund a bunch of it himself, because that would defeat the entire purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleNeutrino Veteran Posted August 5, 2013 Veteran Share Posted August 5, 2013 while the phone concept is cool the amount of money they want for this project is a lot especially when the few options that are available require such a hefty backing fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichi Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 The difference is they expected RT to sell, and it still might in the next gen, it was a bit early. they already tested the waters on this and KNOW it won't sell before they start making it. I agree that it'd likely not sell that much but I don't think that's a conclusion that can be drawn from the campaign support, there's just not enough data. Devices going for under $700 are sold out (which still doesn't mean they would be a wild success at that price point as they weren't that many units available anyway) and people are definitely not all that excited with the idea of throwing over $700 at Canonical for a device that won't be shipping until next year (if ever), as good as the device might allegedly be. If Samsung started a crowdfunding campaign for next year's S<whatevernumber> phone with the same limits on sub $700 units, I don't think they'd be anywhere close to $32 million either. Both that hypothetical S<whatevernumber> and Ubuntu Edge might turn out to be awesome phones, but they would be a year away so why spend a lot of money now when you can just wait and decide later. Ubuntu Edge might (maybe) be well worth $800 if it was launched this year, but we are talking about a 2014's phone that will have to be compared with what other brands will be offering by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
articuno1au Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 For those of you that haven't used the Ubuntu mobile OS, it's actually quite good. With those specs it would thoroughly scream along, not to mention that it could be used as a PC. Leaving aside the stupid kick starter, those of you thinking it's a non starter device, I thoroughly disagree >.< I have it running on a Tegra 2 chip and it's fluid and quick where it works (there's a lot of dummy functionality in place, but it's getting fleshed out rapidly). Growled and +Majesticmerc 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcloum Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Then it was doomed for failure from the get go, it's impossible to raise that kind of money without broad mass support, and this didn't have even 10% of the needed support ummm 10% of ?30m is ?3m....... Grinch 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Majesticmerc MVC Posted August 6, 2013 MVC Share Posted August 6, 2013 For those of you that haven't used the Ubuntu mobile OS, it's actually quite good. With those specs it would thoroughly scream along, not to mention that it could be used as a PC. Leaving aside the stupid kick starter, those of you thinking it's a non starter device, I thoroughly disagree >.< I have it running on a Tegra 2 chip and it's fluid and quick where it works (there's a lot of dummy functionality in place, but it's getting fleshed out rapidly). I haven't used it, but I like what I'm seeing thus far. In fact I'll take a risk and say it could possibly be the best UI of all the major smartphone OS's. If it becomes mainstream, I'd love to get on board. I love the whole "transforms into a PC" idea as well. If the idea were to take off, there'd be a whole market for people who could dock their smartphone into the back of a laptop shell (a la Asus PadFone). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberticus Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 I did not back this even if the phone seems really nice. Reason is that this will be released (optimistically) next year, but what kind of phones will Nokia have by then? Samsung, HTC and Sony? Something similar but at better price? Will the camera hold up to the standards of other vendors? Will call quality be good? How durable will the phone be?Too many questions for me to fork out $700. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knife Party Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Ubuntu OS is a great idea, one that definately deserved to be launched for markets. The problem was a. the type of 'kickstarter esque' from indiegogo funding that they focused on wasn't the best investor decision, especially considering they wanted something like 3 times the record amount ever collected b. lack of venture capital involvement ; I think this would have been wiser. Get partners involved and let them collectively fund the project, focusing on the consumers to foot the bill just doesn't cut in this financial economy. c. The type of capital was waay too unrealistic for what was needed for it to work. Overall, a bit of a PR mess. it was unrealistic. Otherwise I think they should start getting more investors involved and continue to pursue this concept until market realisation (Y). FYI, I'm really liking the pro consumerist culture Canonical are going for; its really refreshing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
articuno1au Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 I did not back this even if the phone seems really nice. Reason is that this will be released (optimistically) next year, but what kind of phones will Nokia have by then? Samsung, HTC and Sony? Something similar but at better price? Will the camera hold up to the standards of other vendors? Will call quality be good? How durable will the phone be? Too many questions for me to fork out $700. In this case, note likely anything as powerful as they are suggesting :P I haven't used it, but I like what I'm seeing thus far. In fact I'll take a risk and say it could possibly be the best UI of all the major smartphone OS's. If it becomes mainstream, I'd love to get on board. I love the whole "transforms into a PC" idea as well. If the idea were to take off, there'd be a whole market for people who could dock their smartphone into the back of a laptop shell (a la Asus PadFone). Yeah, it's pretty good. Definite would be interested in having a play. The thing I like most is how easily customised it should be :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syanide Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 I did not back this even if the phone seems really nice. Reason is that this will be released (optimistically) next year, but what kind of phones will Nokia have by then? Samsung, HTC and Sony? Something similar but at better price? Will the camera hold up to the standards of other vendors? Will call quality be good? How durable will the phone be? Too many questions for me to fork out $700. Spec wise they might catch up (highly doubtful), but the main difference in favor of the Edge is that it it'll actually use those specs for something. Most phones as they are right now have reached a mature stage when it comes to hardware requirements and software optimization (my 2011 phone runs just fine), so the angle Canonical are playing is that the convergence will start pushing the envelope on mobile specs once again. All your other points stand, starting this without a working prototype probably wasn't the smartest of ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4CxbqFxVnstmA Veteran Posted August 11, 2013 Veteran Share Posted August 11, 2013 It's a bit depressing that this doesn't look as if it will work out. I'd like one of those phones! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted August 13, 2013 Member Share Posted August 13, 2013 It's gonna take a miracle now, for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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