I call upon transparency seekers fighting for clear communications
to ease the pressure.
Multi-billion dollar mainstream smartphone developers hardly ever
disclose the very existence of a project to develop a new device,
not to mention periodic disclosure of development status - which is unheard of.
This is good bussiness management practice based on reputation
considerations, marketing strategy & other factors - vital to the
success of the product - which we backers (Not customers) hardly realize.
The small team of Purism is facing immense technical challenges
with very limited material resources.
Our faith and support can make a big difference
Let’s be partners & backers - Not impatient customers - by expressing faith & support
for the success of a great common goal
I agree. As a note though, we should be careful not to fall off the horse on the other side.
From their announcement and subsequent pictures uploaded to Librem Social (is that the correct name?), Purism seems to be hard at work getting the phones ready for the Aspen batch and distributing them (including to internal staff. Probably an eat your own dog food thing). This is great, and I’m excited to see how the production continues.
However, for me, the key date is Oct. 23. If there’s still radio silence, or if we see no independent reviews around that date, then asking more questions would be appropriate. If people do receive the phone, and they don’t work properly (can’t turn on, can’t connect to internet/local networks), those are important things that would need explanation. Not saying that’s the day we all grab our pitchforks and riot, just that if they don’t make the window they defined, then more questions and scrutiny, at that time, would be appropriate.
That said, all signs point to them making there target window, and ramping up production as kinks are smoothed out. Looking forward to seeing my phone arrive in the mail (which should be November-December time frame. I chose Chestnut or earlier.)
Speaking of that. Once the phone is out and in our hands, I would be willing to pay some kind of monthly subscription for continued support and all. Even a few bucks a month to chip in would mean a lot in the long run. And I’m sure that many [if not most] of the customers would do the same. Let’s say (fingers crossed) by the V.2 is out , there is new wave of consumers 100k - 200k in line. So if a third or 25% agrees to contribute with a small monthly donation, it would pay for a lot of folks working hard on daily basis.
People keep focusing on “overpriced” hardware, because they know nothing about the costs for R&D, supply chain, packaging, storing, shipping, tech support, customer support, etc. It’s borderline impossible for a small company like Purism to stay afloat , no matter how big of a margin they get on 1 device, if they work at this scale and budget.
Smartphone business is especially tough to be in and most of the giants are bleeding, but have so much of the backing (by parent companies) that they don’t care and stay in the business just for the name recognition. And not too much how much easier & cheaper is for them do any of the work - hardware, software, logistics , etc.
I really hope that folks in this community recognize this struggle and find patience.
Even if this launch has amazing success, it doesn’t mean that all of a sudden , financial anxiety is gone. It’s more like a stable baby step
We gotta be more supportive - by all means - if we want to see this company survive and thrive eventually.
Whatever it is. It should be more options to choose from - on the website, social media, etc.
So, everyone can find something which can feel comfortable with.
At the point where this phone gives 90% experience - functions of Android or iOS, I’m convinced they will sell million + pieces a year.
Once the OS matures to the optimal level, millions more. Then, we are talking world stage competitor that can rock the boat
I can see this happen in 5 to 6 years
I agree! It is why I bought a family back of the librem one services, even though I self host those solutions or variants of them myself.
And this is coming from someone who takes issue with the full tenets of FOSS. I get over my grievances because the hardware freedom Purism represents is worth more than I think many people recognize.
We need someone pushing to make devices that are user serviceable and meant to last. Because we’ve sure lost it.
Actually, selling 10k a year should be more than sufficient to keep it alive. After all, that’s much more than was needed to get it going.
Consider that the FairPhone only sold some 100k so far. Surpassing that will already be awesome. I’m not yet dreaming of millions…
Of course, more sales (or donations) can only be beneficial to
reduce the price tag of the hardware
improve hard- and software
get closer to truly free hardware (e.g. RISC-V)
I also tend to think buying the service bundle is a good way to show support.
And yet, it pales in comparison to buyinga phone for loved ones (or convincing somebody to buy).
At least half the price should go to cover development costs. Production (when established) shouldn’t be more than $300 or so.
I also hope there will be a mechanism for us users to pay the app developers who create or adapt software for use on PureOS mobile (or Plasma, etc.). We all need to incentivize and support them in order to grow the Librem ecosystem.
You may be way more optimistic than I am.
At 10k rate, they may barely survive, but for real progress not really. Year is long and that extra cash dissipates fast.
When you look at their computers despite charging so much , they couldn’t do much. At best , they are below mediocre machines - 4 gen later.
If they were selling more of them , it would be a different story. Computers are harder to break into (consumers simply need more out of them) but a decent phone can blow up I the market fast.
I don’t do Facebook. I plan to subscribe to Librem’s bundle including Libre Social, once I can put it on a Librem 5 phone. I plan to use all of the services from Purism that I am either too paranoid to use now, and/or switch-over to Purism products (such as e-mail) that I have now. The only thing I don’t plan to left-over is the spying and the targeted ads (or any ads if possible).
I think that’s a great idea, especially if they make it a premium priced tier of libremone However, they need to have an annual fee up front option too please Also, they’ll have to do a cost/benefit analysis of it before hand too (because you just know there are going to be people who are going to call/email not with technical support issues, rather emotional support issues, everyday )
Yeah me too: signed up to say I would seriously consider paying a small amount each month towards purism support/development/etc. I don’t know whether that would be in the form of services or crowdfunding (which I already do for other projects, and I think purism comes top of the list at the moment).
Perhaps it’s not that they can’t, rather being actually important enough to be attacked (it’s no longer a constructive criticism when it’s been made clear requests have been registered but refused), Purism has decided to follow the wisdom of the Go-Go’s?
Can you hear them?
They talk about us
Telling lies
Well, that’s no surprise
Can you see them ?
See right through them
They have no shield
No secrets to reveal
It doesn’t matter what they say
In the jealous games people play
Our lips are sealed
There’s a weapon
Thank you for supporting, I think you’re right. We can wish all we like for a world where hardware, software, and services following our principles are sufficiantly abundant that economies of scale and massive competition are effective (not to mention the legal and social norms that will help and be helped by that), but if we don’t make it happen, it just won’t. Let’s be honest: our own efforts are individually much smaller than the people working for purism – and our efforts are also crucial to its success.
Forgive my word nitpicking weakness: it’s tenets, not tenants (tenants are people who rent property… or a kind of lager, over here in UK anyway; tenets are principles held in common by a community). Edit: now I see the lager is “Tennent’s”, so I’d better nitpick back at myself
I like the idea in principle (especially since I hope to be one of those developers ) – I’m not sure though whether purism are the right people to take it on: I’m sure they have plenty on their plate already, so maybe it’s best if they stick to their core area?
I think it would be a great idea for them to support developers by sending traffic to crowdfunding platforms and people supporting/doing development that benefits the platform.
Irrelevant, as they also don’t charge you for said product until you buy it. As soon as you accept someone’s money for a to-be-delivered product (e.g. a preorder or crowdfunding campaign), you owe it to them to be kept in the loop.
How much to communicate is open for interpretation. But that it’s more than what’s currently being communicated is clear from the fact that a lot of us are dissatisfied with the amount and quality (accuracy) of communication received so far.
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