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Two reasons: 1. The market for technology is driven by price/performance. It is why there is a 4K Vizio TV at $400 sitting next to a 4K Samsung at 10x the pric
by clarge1120 6y ago
Two reasons:
1. The market for technology is driven by price/performance. It is why there is a 4K Vizio TV at $400 sitting next to a 4K Samsung at 10x the price, and both of them sell. Buyers purchase technology based on price and performance. Low performance, low price. High performance, high price.
2. The high end of the mobile phone is coveredeither tightly integrating the OS with the hardware (like Apple), or by building very powerful (and expensive) hardware for an off-the-shelf OS. The low end of the mobile phone market is covered by midrange performance Android phones. A low performance phone on an unsupported OS just will not cut it.
- CivBase 6y agoPerformance is not the only value consumers consider. System76 has already demonstrated there is a market for computing devices which charge a premium for better repairability, security, and privacy. Even in the smartphone market, Apple has demonstrated many times that you can sell phones with slower hardware if you provide a more appealing software experience. Low-end Android phones still sell and I don't see any reason why PinePhone couldn't come out with a more high-performance model in the future. But releasing a $1k+ phone with beta hardware and software doesn't sound like a successful way to enter a market. The platform is still maturing and, for now, I'd still consider it a dev kit or an rpi-esque tinkering device.