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I don't think the price comparison is fair. If someone spends 700$ on a phone, he would be ok spending 200$ if the system does work smoothly. What I think peo

I don't think the price comparison is fair. If someone spends 700$ on a phone, he would be ok spending 200$ if the system does work smoothly. What I think people are more skeptic about is performance and user experience.

orbitingpluto 9y ago
Are you forgetting that most people get their phones with their plans? People will feel that they can absorb $20 or even $30 extra per month on their plan for a top tier phone. Absorbing any hit over $200 when someone lives hand to mouth makes these a non-starter. The best chance for mass success for this option is for it to be included in the base purchase.
- anilshanbhag 9y ago
  Well there is nothing preventing Dex from coming with a monthly plan. Note that all plans are very low interest rate loans, there is nothing special about a phone plan. Also, majority of people just use email and word suite. An S9 is easily capable of doing these tasks and it saves the individual or company cost of a cpu box (400 USD at the low end).
  - zodPod 9y ago
    Plans are also just generally a good way to hide the actual cost of the device. Notice that, when you walk into a Verizon store, they aren't saying "BUY PHONE FOR $760!" they're saying "A New iPhone for just $32/mo!" So most of these people aren't going "Oh MAN only $760 in the end?!" they're going "I can afford $32/mo!" My point is, it really doesn't matter what the reality of the cost/loan is, people who think "$30/mo! I can do that!" are probably not also going to think $200 seems like a good price for basically a cable to plug my phone into my computer. Obviously, your other point was that it could come with a plan too but that seems doable but also there's yet another cost on top of the phone they were just barely justifying already. I'm not saying you're wrong but I think the price of this device is ridiculous. I might pay $80 for it if it were really something I needed but, as others have said, I don't carry my phone around to be a computer. I carry it to be a phone. On top of that, I never really have a situation where I've got a keyboard, mouse, and monitor just sitting around waiting for something to activate them. So I'm not sure when I'd use this anyway.
halflings 9y ago
> What I think people are more skeptic about is performance and user experience. I think that's what the parent was talking about: Most people that wouldn't mind a simpler UX and less performance can't afford this phone/dock in a first place... and the people that would afford this (have an S8 and don't mind buying a $300 dock) will be skeptical about the usefulness and performance of this system.
monk_e_boy 9y ago
They already have a few iPads and laptops.
bigiain 9y ago
Except most people don't think of themselves as "someone who spends $700 on a phone", they pay $x9.95/month for $y00 minutes talktime plus $zGB of data and they get a "free" phone every two years... I doubt any of those people would think it's a good idea to spend an extra ~$15/month for a thing that lets them plug a screen/keyboard/mouse into their "free" phone.
- zodPod 9y ago
  Yeah, and, to be honest, I've bought both of my phones I've had over the last few years and there's no way in hell I'd spend another $200 on a stupid dock. If this were an $80 device I might go for it but they killed it with a high price tag. Surprise surprise!
- pjmlp 9y ago
  Not everywhere. Here in Europe, contracts are the exception not the rule. Most people just charge with 15 to 20 euros their SIM card whenever they feel like it, and have to pay full price for mobile phone. Or pay it in rates to only have it unlocked from the network at the end of two years, so they are going to use that phone until it dies or gets stolen.
  - teamhappy 9y ago
    > Here in Europe, contracts are the exception not the rule. I'm pretty sure that hasn't been true for years.
    - pjmlp 9y ago
      Data to back it up please, since you are pretty sure? "Around 70% of customers in Western Europe and China use prepaid phones with the figure rising to over 90% for customers in India and Africa" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepay_mobile_phone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepay_mobile_phone I only know people with contracts regarding iPhone, which is the only affordable way to get them new in many of the European countries.
      - 9y ago

orbitingpluto 9y ago

Are you forgetting that most people get their phones with their plans? People will feel that they can absorb $20 or even $30 extra per month on their plan for a top tier phone. Absorbing any hit over $200 when someone lives hand to mouth makes these a non-starter. The best chance for mass success for this option is for it to be included in the base purchase.

anilshanbhag 9y ago
Well there is nothing preventing Dex from coming with a monthly plan. Note that all plans are very low interest rate loans, there is nothing special about a phone plan. Also, majority of people just use email and word suite. An S9 is easily capable of doing these tasks and it saves the individual or company cost of a cpu box (400 USD at the low end).
- zodPod 9y ago
  Plans are also just generally a good way to hide the actual cost of the device. Notice that, when you walk into a Verizon store, they aren't saying "BUY PHONE FOR $760!" they're saying "A New iPhone for just $32/mo!" So most of these people aren't going "Oh MAN only $760 in the end?!" they're going "I can afford $32/mo!" My point is, it really doesn't matter what the reality of the cost/loan is, people who think "$30/mo! I can do that!" are probably not also going to think $200 seems like a good price for basically a cable to plug my phone into my computer. Obviously, your other point was that it could come with a plan too but that seems doable but also there's yet another cost on top of the phone they were just barely justifying already. I'm not saying you're wrong but I think the price of this device is ridiculous. I might pay $80 for it if it were really something I needed but, as others have said, I don't carry my phone around to be a computer. I carry it to be a phone. On top of that, I never really have a situation where I've got a keyboard, mouse, and monitor just sitting around waiting for something to activate them. So I'm not sure when I'd use this anyway.

halflings 9y ago

> What I think people are more skeptic about is performance and user experience. I think that's what the parent was talking about: Most people that wouldn't mind a simpler UX and less performance can't afford this phone/dock in a first place... and the people that would afford this (have an S8 and don't mind buying a $300 dock) will be skeptical about the usefulness and performance of this system.

monk_e_boy 9y ago

They already have a few iPads and laptops.

bigiain 9y ago

Except most people don't think of themselves as "someone who spends $700 on a phone", they pay $x9.95/month for $y00 minutes talktime plus $zGB of data and they get a "free" phone every two years... I doubt any of those people would think it's a good idea to spend an extra ~$15/month for a thing that lets them plug a screen/keyboard/mouse into their "free" phone.

zodPod 9y ago
Yeah, and, to be honest, I've bought both of my phones I've had over the last few years and there's no way in hell I'd spend another $200 on a stupid dock. If this were an $80 device I might go for it but they killed it with a high price tag. Surprise surprise!
pjmlp 9y ago
Not everywhere. Here in Europe, contracts are the exception not the rule. Most people just charge with 15 to 20 euros their SIM card whenever they feel like it, and have to pay full price for mobile phone. Or pay it in rates to only have it unlocked from the network at the end of two years, so they are going to use that phone until it dies or gets stolen.
- teamhappy 9y ago
  > Here in Europe, contracts are the exception not the rule. I'm pretty sure that hasn't been true for years.
  - pjmlp 9y ago
    Data to back it up please, since you are pretty sure? "Around 70% of customers in Western Europe and China use prepaid phones with the figure rising to over 90% for customers in India and Africa" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepay_mobile_phone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepay_mobile_phone I only know people with contracts regarding iPhone, which is the only affordable way to get them new in many of the European countries.
    - 9y ago