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My biggest gripe about Firefox OS was that Mozilla partnered with companies making low end phones that were quite awful even for that time. At that time, I felt

My biggest gripe about Firefox OS was that Mozilla partnered with companies making low end phones that were quite awful even for that time. At that time, I felt that if it were released with high end or near high end hardware, the overall user experience would've have been much better and there would've been more freedom for Mozilla to focus on the important things. It could've then percolated down to cheaper/low end hardware with a separate "make Firefox OS lean" program. Trying to compete with Android on devices that were underpowered, in my view, killed all prospects of it surviving.

ethbro 9y ago
What would a manufacturer making first-tier hardware have gotten from partnering with Mozilla? The most likely I'd see there would have been a "Certified for reflashing" platform.
- tajen 9y ago
  "We're an open platform, unlike an Android"? "We don't rat you to the CIA, unlike Android"? "Our apps are all-js"? I wonder whether Mozilla could have not partnered at all and targeted a stock Android phone?
  - untog 9y ago
    None of those are selling points to customers, though (well, perhaps the CIA one, but even then, most don't care). A manufacturer wouldn't take on a Firefox phone for those reasons, it needed a compelling consumer selling point, and it didn't have one.
  - scarface74 9y ago
    Ironic... Andy Rubin the definition of open: "mkdir android ; cd android ; repo init -u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git ; repo sync ; make" https://mobile.twitter.com/arubin/status/27808662429?lang=en https://mobile.twitter.com/arubin/status/27808662429?lang=en
- flukus 9y ago
  > What would a manufacturer making first-tier hardware have gotten from partnering with Mozilla? Product differentiation. Android is a crowded hardware market where everyone looks the same.
Qwertious 9y ago
FirefoxOS was primarily marketed at third-world consumers (who are literally in the billions). Third world consumers purchase $10 smartphones, not $400 smartphones, because they don't have that much money.

ethbro 9y ago

What would a manufacturer making first-tier hardware have gotten from partnering with Mozilla? The most likely I'd see there would have been a "Certified for reflashing" platform.

tajen 9y ago
"We're an open platform, unlike an Android"? "We don't rat you to the CIA, unlike Android"? "Our apps are all-js"? I wonder whether Mozilla could have not partnered at all and targeted a stock Android phone?
- untog 9y ago
  None of those are selling points to customers, though (well, perhaps the CIA one, but even then, most don't care). A manufacturer wouldn't take on a Firefox phone for those reasons, it needed a compelling consumer selling point, and it didn't have one.
- scarface74 9y ago
  Ironic... Andy Rubin the definition of open: "mkdir android ; cd android ; repo init -u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git ; repo sync ; make" https://mobile.twitter.com/arubin/status/27808662429?lang=en https://mobile.twitter.com/arubin/status/27808662429?lang=en
flukus 9y ago
> What would a manufacturer making first-tier hardware have gotten from partnering with Mozilla? Product differentiation. Android is a crowded hardware market where everyone looks the same.

Qwertious 9y ago

FirefoxOS was primarily marketed at third-world consumers (who are literally in the billions). Third world consumers purchase $10 smartphones, not $400 smartphones, because they don't have that much money.