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There are two ways to interpret their funding goals: based on projected cost and based on projected backers. 1.5 million dollars may not be very much money for

by pfooti 9y ago

There are two ways to interpret their funding goals: based on projected cost and based on projected backers. 1.5 million dollars may not be very much money for smartphone development, but it is very ambitious as a crowdfund goal. It basically requires around 2500 backers ($1.5MM / $600) to pay $600 out of pocket for a device that, at best, will be delivered in 18 months. Given the success path of most hardware kickstarters, I'd be surprised if this fully funded. The price point is relatively high (even though it is a whole phone, I get that, it is just a lot of money). I'd also be surprised if it actually delivered in 18 months. That's basically saying: "we have the design all done and are in our final mass production engineering phase right now". I mean, if you follow any prior hardware kickstarters that include significant production parts (pebble, keyboardio to name just two), the one major lesson is: mass production takes a ton of time and money to get right.

bo1024 9y ago
> the one major lesson is: mass production takes a ton of time and money to get right. True, but that said, Purism has plenty of experience with this entire process through their laptops. Hopefully the lessons they've learned there will help them a lot here. I'm very happy with my Librem 13 laptop so far and pre-ordered a phone. I know there's some risk of failure but I'm happy to put my faith in Purism here, based on what I've seen from them so far.
jseliger 9y ago
It basically requires around 2500 backers ($1.5MM / $600) to pay $600 out of pocket for a device that, at best, will be delivered in 18 months. There may also be a handful of people like me who think the idea is cool but don't necessarily want the device (or don't want it right away); I just donated $20.
nickpsecurity 9y ago
JackPair is another example that's had tons of hardware issues. Stuff that a new device maker might not see coming. One that does lzptops might also get blindsided moving to mobile where there's extra challenges.
Accacin 9y ago
Yeah this is exactly what I meant by my comment.

by pfooti 9y ago

bo1024 9y ago

> the one major lesson is: mass production takes a ton of time and money to get right. True, but that said, Purism has plenty of experience with this entire process through their laptops. Hopefully the lessons they've learned there will help them a lot here. I'm very happy with my Librem 13 laptop so far and pre-ordered a phone. I know there's some risk of failure but I'm happy to put my faith in Purism here, based on what I've seen from them so far.

jseliger 9y ago

It basically requires around 2500 backers ($1.5MM / $600) to pay $600 out of pocket for a device that, at best, will be delivered in 18 months. There may also be a handful of people like me who think the idea is cool but don't necessarily want the device (or don't want it right away); I just donated $20.

nickpsecurity 9y ago

JackPair is another example that's had tons of hardware issues. Stuff that a new device maker might not see coming. One that does lzptops might also get blindsided moving to mobile where there's extra challenges.

Accacin 9y ago

Yeah this is exactly what I meant by my comment.