Other phones that are fairly fair? (e.g. Shiftphone)

Yes, I agree. I think it´s the message not yet being carried out far or strong enough to plant this very first thought into the customers minds.
Also I think it´s the form of selling going on too. Salesman in shops as I know them may focus on good sale rates maybe coupled with a provision. Starting with the flagship stepping down to the cheaper models seems more promising to have a sale than beginning with “fairness”.

In comparison to food: Many customers here in Germany do look out more and more for regional goods (hopefully) organic grown as many labels state, with little to no chemicals.

But focusing on smartphones the very first thought doesn´t seem to be fairness (maybe it´s longevity though). Longevity unfortunately has several faces. It can be software related, hardware related, business related etc.
FP1 was discontinued primarily because of software issues. FP2 faced some hardware troubles within the supply chain, fortunately these could be solved.
As long as FP stays in business the movement will go on, no one knows what the future brings.

See! So this is plain business going on. Big players are not (yet) open for longevity. It´s only about sales.
Again FP here turns out being one of the few taking care of maintaining updates. It´s a key attribute of FP2 probably not mentioned very often in shops.

It is indeed. The good thing about software is, that it does not leave any waste. It can be formed and reshaped only with the expense of energy. But that´s unfortunately something many people simply cannot understand. I think the overall demand is always wanting to have the most state-of-the-art (hardware).
I tend to say the available common SoC types (also the SD 801) overrun the software demands. There is enough potential and options (although FP unfortunately did not make all of it available by design :frowning:)
Many people seem to feel better with more advanced hardware. Actually it´s the software that utilizes the hardware. And a modern handset does not provide more security either if the software is outdated and not regularly maintained.
Many customers are not aware of these facts.

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Just for completeness sake, Fairphone also had troubles to find a partner, who would continue to produce FP1 spare parts under acceptable working conditions and in low quantities. So it was not only the software, but also the hardware. However outdated software doesn’t make my FP1 unusable in the short run, while a broken touch screen does. Fortunately I haven’t had the latter.

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In my opinion, the new “modular” SHIFT6m is as “modular” as the FP1: Repairable, but complex and not trivial. Sure, it is more modular than other phones that are sold today, but nothing compared to FP2’s modularity. Is it justified to call the SHIFT6m modular?

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I’ll probably have to take one apart to be able to judge that - or at least see an ifixit teardown.

Well, judging just by the picture of the shiftphone, it seems to be even more easy to disasemble than the FP1.

And - stabilitywise - it might be a good idea to fix all the modules by a large number of screws, forming a kind of “sandwich” or brick (just my impression from the picture), making it less vulnerable against twisting.
Of course it remains to be seen, if the final phone will look like this picture and how durable it really is.

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thanks for this link, i didn’t know good electronics so far! :slight_smile:

I see a bunch of tiny components, which aren’t at all modules. Especially the camera with its fragile flexible flat cable looks a lot like the type that’s built into the FP1. An exploded rendering of the FP1 wouldn’t look much differently than the one of the SHIFT6m.

grafik

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I’d also say that from the looks of it it’s about as repairable as the FP1. Just imagine they managed to built a phone that can actually reuse parts of the FP1. :cloud: :bulb:

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Yeah, it remains to be seen, how the parts are fixed and connected to each other.
I remember, that switching the display of the FP1 is a really fiddly thing, with all those tiny connections, cables and the speaker being held by some adhesive tape.
At first sight, there seem to be less of those connections, but judging from a picture like this is like reading the coffe grounds. The real phone might in the end not even look like this picture.

I know I’m kind of late but there is a Smartphone “Made in Germany” from Gigaset, the GS185.
I don’t know about how eco or conflict free it is but it is assembled in Germany under good conditions. And it’s 185 €.

https://www.gigaset.com/at_de/gigaset-gs185/

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This discussion happened here: A Smartphone "Made in Germany" (factory in Bocholt) / A chance for Fairphone as well?

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Shift published a new report on its impact on 10th of May. I reviewed it and summarized my findings and opinion here: https://fairloetet.de/shift-wirkungsbericht-2019/.
It’s in German only, sorry for that.

Best,
Sebastian

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