🇬🇧 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 Interesting links / news articles somehow related to FP (collection)

But it would make phones more expensive for everyone.
Which of course would be the real price, including the social and environmental factor that usually tends to be not taken account for.

4 Likes

Yes, I followed it too and yes I also think there should be more regulation by governments. On the other hand we in Germany have something called “economic autonomy” which other developed countries probably also have in a way. So how much influence would do good and when will it rather cause (damage) or take too much responsibility from the management.

But looking at e.g. the diesel-gate we also could be witness of how “economic autonomy” can go fataly wrong.

Yes, I agree. Unfortunately as I can see here in Germany more and more responsibility is left to “the customer”. If there is a discussion going on often it is stated by government spokesmen that it´s up to the customers decision so he may take influence in market developments. Fine, but that´s not a general solution for all issues as can be watched and it’s not what for we have politicians after all.

@BertG

Yes true. Since several years we have offers to have a new phone for 0€ or 1€ for a contract extension or new contract or a high class model for much lower than the real price. Dealers could never catch me, but I always thought this is a negative development. And now signs become clearer that it is one among other developments turning out to massively grow the dump pile and even has a stronger negative multi-impact.
Actually FP2 is my second new mobile within 25 years.
First Nokia 6150 (>500.- DM) with the shortest possible contract at O² (formerly Viag Intercom with it´s unique “home zome”) of only 3 months to see if the mobile technique is even working and worth paying money for. Now FP2, you know the price.
But receiving a new phone for an apple and a egg
of course pushes many users to give in and snatch it being in need of it or not.
But for whatever reason many used phones are often not sold second-hand but rott in a drawer, maybe for sentimental reasons or whatever.

I think mobiles would be treated with more care and value if they were (much) more expensive. Draining them in the toilet or simply dropping them would hurt much more and users probably would try harder to prevent this.

But relating to Stefans thread about Greenwashing governments should surely take influence on pricing.

Simply compare the cost break-down of FP and imagine how it may look at Apple or Samsung.
In the 90’s there was an overall win of maybe 1%-100% per unit of whatever was sold. But today?? 100% win still seems not to be enough per unit. There must be 500%, 1000%, no problem - the sky is the limit. Buy or die.
But look who’s actually doing the job - the managers, shareholders? Surely not! Maybe the poor souls at
Foxconn or diggers in third-world countries.
So this is where governments should take more control into the market to regulate a better balance between wins, costs of raw materials, salaries, sales prices, social values etc. and also force companies to take over more responsibility for the full live cycle of their products - not sell and forget or leave the (uncomfortable) rest to the customers.

https://forum.fairphone.com/t/the-green-lie-greenwashing-and-what-to-do-about-it/39476/7

That’s the point. FPs cost breakdown is available to the public. I believe there are not many companies revealing such and if they do…how truthfull may it be??
There is a lot of cheating going on. Just imagine for youself, how would it look like to see a product is being sold with >500% win per unit?
Would it look good in a breakdown to see the raw materials are only (a simple guess) 1% and salaries for manufacturing maybe 7%?
The price barrier of >$1000 for a new smartphone was broken by Apple.

I have doubts it is a complete new design from scratch legitimating this price.
So, it should clearly point out who actually makes his cut just as one sentence states “Investors should buy Apple shares because the more expensive iPhone 8 launching later this year will drive earnings above expectations”.

This price should include a noticable percentage of

and governments should have a close eye on it so they are actually fulfilled.

2 Likes

Just found this, an open hardware Android phone: https://hackaday.io/project/42944-kite-open-hardware-android-smartphone

1 Like

See here: :slight_smile:

1 Like

6 posts were split to a new topic: Microsoft goes Open Source

2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Lush UK chooses Fairphone from Phone Co-op!

2 Likes

This fits best here for now. If a discussion evolves, we can move it back or start a new toipc.

Here is an article explaining how Fairphone managed to upgrade to Android 7.1. As far as I understood, they didn’t have help from Qualcomm, and did it all by themselves, quite similarly to what developers did with LineageOS.
The end of the article is a bit more interesting, we learn that they are thinking of writing codes for Android 8.0, but that will be difficult (as we already were told). They also state that they focus on FP2 at the moment, and that an FP3 is not for the near future. If they happen to release one, they will continue to maintain previous models.

8 Likes

Reading through the feature list I cannot get rid of the strong impression that most modifications are related to eye candy. Which often is the major reason for me to skip successors or even turn away.
Reading further on references 3. also lists up some technical features, but nothing I have missed so far.
I could only read little about core security advancements etc.
And when matching customer complaints about existing Android versions and their expectations on advancements and what´s now delivered here, I cannot recall having heard loud voices about:

  • clock being displayed on the wrong side
  • taking a screenshot was too complicated
  • Rounded corners across the graphical user interface missing
  • An ugly volume slider :joy:

and more crap not to be mentioned.

As it turns out many users always wanting to have the latest Android version at hand seems to believe this automatically delivers the highest possible security and usability factor. Reality is often neglected.
Windows users should know by now, many Android users still need some time for gathering more experience clearing their vision.
How many could state to know a non-FP user having a newer Android version and receiving regular security updates on a per month basis as FP manages to do since the launch, even after the warranty period?
If wanting to have the highest security level actually regular security updates or patches on a short term basis are required. Even M$ has learned this simple lesson and does as good as it can (wants).
Holding a more advanced handset with newer Android version but receiving security updates only (for premium models) every few months is to make it clear in concerns of security ridiculous.
Let alone that many manufacturers don´t even put energy into regular security updates but rather pretend to do so giving the customers a wrong impression of holding a secure device in hand.
So any Android user out there having the need of using banking, email and other apps for sensitive issues should use his common sense and consider what´s the better way.
I know for myself, if ever having the very urgent need starting such sensitive things on my mobile, real regular security updates on a short term basis for a not state-of-the-art Android would rather convince me using such a handset instead of having the latest Android version which may have seen the last security update some months ago.

3 Likes

Am I spotting a new, coloured rim in Lina’s hand there? :innocent:

Source: https://twitter.com/BCorpCommunity/status/1010842269904179201

2 Likes

The CEOs of FairLötet (fair tin-solder) and nagerIT (fair computer mouse) plus Len Abe (labour rights activist from Shenzhen, China) are doing some events under the banner of “Inside China’s IT Factories: the Struggle for Human and Workers’ Rights”.

Here’s the Hamburg date for example: https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/ThoughtWorks-Hamburg/events/251885573/

3 Likes

Very good to see that such things are also gaining more interest and priority from the inside.
Nevertheless reading this paragraph somehow sounded to me as if they were talking about German work conditions.
work-times
That´s what we have to face as well.
One of my longest work days had 21 hours not being an emergency case but the result of someone not feeling like doing his homework as a business manager properly. :neutral_face:
People abroad could think - what Germany
Yes, simple rule here. Keep the job for a (family) living and to pay off depths for a house, car etc. or be replaced by someone else needing the pocket money and job more urgent. And there is always someone else waiting in need of a job…
I keep it slightly different though…

PS. Again we are leading within the EU with these numbers…should I consider this as rather positive or not…:thinking:

1 Like

@Bas_van_Abel’s Interview mit dem Ö1 Mittagsjournal am 29.6.2018: ORF-Radiothek

Es ist eine kleine Nische und trotzdem ein großes Symbol für ein andere Art von Wirtschaft: das Fairphone, das erste weitgehend umweltfreundlich und sozial gerecht hergestellte Smartphone der Welt. Der Gründer und Geschäftsführer von Fairphone, Bas van Abel, ist für sein Engagement in Wien mit einem Umweltpreis ausgezeichnet worden.

6 Likes

3 posts were split to a new topic: Gigaset producing a 179€ smartphone in Germany

A post was merged into an existing topic: Gigaset producing a 179€ smartphone in Germany

In dem Interview fällt die Zahl 160.000 für die Anzahl von Fairphones. Ich hatte zuletzt immer Schwierigkeiten, genau so eine Zahl zu finden. Und ich meine mich erinnern zu können, letztes Jahr bei der Neu-Gründung des Hamburger Meetups mal Slides von Fairphone gesehen zu haben, wo irgendeine Zahl >200.000 drauf stand.

Gibt es irgendwo eine offizielle Zahl und hab ich die einfach nur übersehen bisher?

Slide 6 of the general Fairphone presentation put together for the FairSwap events originally included an erroneous number of 260000. This was later (September 2017) corrected to a vague 135000.

2 Likes

Trigos Award 2018:
http://www.trigos.at/trigos/gewinner
http://www.trigos.at/trigos/uebertrigos/gala
https://www.flickr.com/photos/162951334@N07/43123534362/in/album-72157692856016810
https://www.flickr.com/photos/162951334@N07/43123534122/in/album-72157692856016810
https://www.flickr.com/photos/162951334@N07/28303390247/in/album-72157692856016810

8 Likes

Ah, thanks, so 160.000 Fairphones is the correct number. That way, I can continue to put it into relation to the production capacity of iPhones per day (according to some article is 500.000) whenever there is a discussion about the impact some people expect Fairphone to have on the smartphone industry :wink:

3 Likes