3 ms·

Funny but that is exactly where my brain went too, it was like "Wow, that is some serious market validation."

jacquesm 5y ago
Of course, but there would be similar market validation for being able to hold up a bank without ever being recognized or to be able to steal money from bank accounts anonymously. That 'market' is called crime, and obviously criminals will be more than happy to fork over money for tools that help them to commit crimes without being arrested. In reality though, that market doesn't exist because if you or I would address that market we'd be hit hard by the authorities, and for good reason.
- omreaderhn 5y ago
  As far as I can tell, An0m has the same marketing pitch as Purism.
  - ChuckMcM 5y ago
    ... or the "Freedom phone"
    - shapefrog 5y ago
      You should be able to have the american flag being waved or tastefully fluttering in the breeze in the background of your comment.
- 14 5y ago
  There are more reasons then committing a crime for wanting anonymity. If I was someone with money like a celebrity I would want this phone. If I was a business with sensitive information I would want this phone. And so on.
  - Aerroon 5y ago
    >If I was someone with money like a celebrity I would want this phone. I think this part is underestimated by most people. Celebrities are frequently under a microscope and having to live your life while worrying about somebody overhearing it and taking it to the press must be frustrating. Everyone has bad moments in their lives, but at least for most of us these won't be dragged up and published to the world. A device like this could help alleviate that fear a little bit.
  - Qub3d 5y ago
    Further down the article, when talking about the project history, it notes that the company that inspired An0m, Phantom Secure, ostensibly started selling heavily-locked-down BlackBerry phones for this audience. They quickly found their primary market was, well... crime.
- ChuckMcM 5y ago
  To be fair, I remember the story of the guy that designed the drug cartel's radio system[1]. And I share your dislike of facilitating bad actors. That said, having met the "ad tech" industry[2] when doing a search engine I can say there are a large number of people who are perfectly happy to take the money from bad actors with a "perfectly legal" product and reasonable deniability. But all of these schemes have a certain "addressable market" and an "expected return" which are hard to judge. Putting numbers to the "completely anonymous" phone scam was interesting. [1] https://www.wired.com/2012/11/zeta-radio/ https://www.wired.com/2012/11/zeta-radio/ [2] And to be clear, there are legitimate folks trying to do ad tech in legitimate ways, but there is also a lot of fraud in ad tech which involves setting up networks to take money from advertisers and feed it to bad actors.

Of course, but there would be similar market validation for being able to hold up a bank without ever being recognized or to be able to steal money from bank accounts anonymously. That 'market' is called crime, and obviously criminals will be more than happy to fork over money for tools that help them to commit crimes without being arrested. In reality though, that market doesn't exist because if you or I would address that market we'd be hit hard by the authorities, and for good reason.

omreaderhn 5y ago
As far as I can tell, An0m has the same marketing pitch as Purism.
- ChuckMcM 5y ago
  ... or the "Freedom phone"
  - shapefrog 5y ago
    You should be able to have the american flag being waved or tastefully fluttering in the breeze in the background of your comment.
14 5y ago
There are more reasons then committing a crime for wanting anonymity. If I was someone with money like a celebrity I would want this phone. If I was a business with sensitive information I would want this phone. And so on.
- Aerroon 5y ago
  >If I was someone with money like a celebrity I would want this phone. I think this part is underestimated by most people. Celebrities are frequently under a microscope and having to live your life while worrying about somebody overhearing it and taking it to the press must be frustrating. Everyone has bad moments in their lives, but at least for most of us these won't be dragged up and published to the world. A device like this could help alleviate that fear a little bit.
- Qub3d 5y ago
  Further down the article, when talking about the project history, it notes that the company that inspired An0m, Phantom Secure, ostensibly started selling heavily-locked-down BlackBerry phones for this audience. They quickly found their primary market was, well... crime.
ChuckMcM 5y ago
To be fair, I remember the story of the guy that designed the drug cartel's radio system[1]. And I share your dislike of facilitating bad actors. That said, having met the "ad tech" industry[2] when doing a search engine I can say there are a large number of people who are perfectly happy to take the money from bad actors with a "perfectly legal" product and reasonable deniability. But all of these schemes have a certain "addressable market" and an "expected return" which are hard to judge. Putting numbers to the "completely anonymous" phone scam was interesting. [1] https://www.wired.com/2012/11/zeta-radio/ https://www.wired.com/2012/11/zeta-radio/ [2] And to be clear, there are legitimate folks trying to do ad tech in legitimate ways, but there is also a lot of fraud in ad tech which involves setting up networks to take money from advertisers and feed it to bad actors.