I followed through to this forum from a slashdot story about OpenMoko. I like this concept. I’d like a smartphone with a 6.5" screen with a 6:10 ratio (maybe even a bit wider), because I have some vision difficulties. I bought an Xperia Ultra, which was the largest smartphone I could find at 6 inches, and for the first time, I’m able to use a smartphone without stressing out over being able to see the display. In addition, my wishlist includes being able to use OpenBSD, and IrDA instead of RF when I’m in certain places that have the option available (like at home, etc.).
Would be interested to know if anyone else aligns with this
Fairphone is still a very small company that produces devices in low quantities and thus have higher production costs than big players.
They simply can’t afford to produce anything for fringe audiences, they’d only loose profit with such a device and also create competition for their main device.
That’s interesting… I wonder what kinds of costs are involved. I’d be curious about the kind of capital involved and skills needed to try something like this. Oh, and by competition you mean that if there was a second device, then it would split people between buying the two and drive cost up, making it less affordable and resulting in a smaller market share?
you can read up on some previous discussion e.g. here:
and here:
Even if the cost didn’t increase and Fairphone’s total market-share even increased a little, their profit would be less if they’d (have to) design, produce, troubleshoot, distribute, store and maintain more than one new device every few years.
I end up wanting specialized devices and am seldom satisfied by what’s on the market. Being able to customize and change seems to be something I look for in everything. I wonder if with increasing automation there will be more of a selection on the markets.
Thank you for the link! It’s helpful Interesting that over half the cost is manufacturing. I was expecting less, so those numbers are a surprise. Also, the tax. Didn’t know it was that high.
Manufacturing is mostly that high because it’s done in small volumes for Fairphone, for larger phone manufacturers the cost is likely lower (even though they don’t disclose it; but estimates of ~€200 for the production costs of a high-end phone are sometimes floating on the internet)
I’d like a 4" or 4,5" phone, similar to the Samsung S3 mini…
So, maybe it might make sense, to develop a motherboard which can be used with different kinds of displays. A small one, with small battery, a big one with a bigger battery, and so on?
I think that Puzzlephone was thinking about something like this. Basically the spine would be different (tablet/smartphone), but the brain and the battery would be the same.
