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Mark Shuttleworth Reddit AMA today

74 points by hamax 13y ago

nonchalance 13y ago
Is it looking likely that they will hit the target? They already had HN bump and most Ubuntu fans were made aware of the project already.
- mtgx 13y ago
  If I were them I'd offer a 32 GB version for $600, for people who will only/mainly use it as a phone, and not a full-time computer. It's still plenty of space. That price level seems to have been pretty popular, and at that price level they may be able to hit the target. I'm not sure why they absolutely need to sell only a 128 GB version. Also, they'd be insane not to add 802.11ac Wi-fi.
  - hamax 13y ago
    > I'm not sure why they absolutely need to sell only a 128 GB version. I'm just guessing here but it might be more expensive to make smaller batches with different models the to just make one.
    - kryptiskt 13y ago
      They can give them the same model with only a 32 GB partition on the flash. And then charge $200 for an upgrade to 128 GB. It's a proven business model. :-)
      - alanctgardner2 13y ago
        Unfortunately it sounds like the $600 price point only covers their BOM right now. If they put in extra engineering to disable some hardware, that's a net loss for them per unit (but they'll make it up in volume!). All the people who would upgrade have already splashed out for the 128GB model.
antidaily 13y ago
I wonder if Indiegogo takes their normal percentage for projects this large.
- aroch 13y ago
  Why wouldn't they? It'd be an easy way to make ~$2 million
  - tjdetwiler 13y ago
    They could have tried to work a deal with indiegogo/kickstarter for a lower rate for such a high value target.
    - qwertzlcoatl 13y ago
      With the weight of the name ubuntu, I wonder why they outsourced their crowdfunding to an foreign entity. They could easily have razzed up something on their own.
fingerprinter 13y ago
I have to give Mark credit. Ubuntu changed Linux for the better. No matter what you think about Ubuntu now, Linux is far better off for Ubuntu. My biggest question for Mark would be if he regrets not going his own way earlier. IMO, Ubuntu stuck with some dead-end upstream projects for far too long. Ubuntu should have gone the mobile/phone/tablet much sooner. Ubuntu SHOULD have been what Android is now.
- IgorPartola 13y ago
  No reason it can't be. Android has several big issues: 1. Lots of it is ugly. I don't mean the core OS, but lots of the apps don't fit the main theme. 2. It runs on diverse hardware so performance varies. 3. OS version segmentation. This is made worse by manufactures putting their own lipstick on the vanilla OS. 4. It's not proper FOSS. Yes, you can read the source at some point later, but chances of someone that's not Google, Motorola, Samsung, or HTC having their commit actually show up in the upstream are slim to none. 5. Phones and tablets are of varying quality and come with various levels of support. The manufacturer may back it, or they may drop support as soon as they can. Flagship phones become crap phones all the time. Ubuntu may play their cards right and provide an integrated platform a la Apple's iOS devices, where software and hardware play nicely together. If they then insist on high quality apps, they may be able to get a foothold in the market. The question is, how long can the "crowd" support the right way of doing things before some exec somewhere says "We need it to have our own distinct UI"?
  - mseebach 13y ago
    Point 4 is orthogonal to the others. Points 1-3: If you have an proper, FOSS system, you can't keep people from doing all those things, which they will do if it gets get any kind of meaningful traction. Point 5: You can't force manufacturers to provide support at a certain level. You can probably avoid "TIVO-ization" with licensing, but as soon as you're venturing out of "supported" territory, there's only so much you can do for regular users.
    - tjdetwiler 13y ago
hansjorg 13y ago
Link to AMA: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1j166z/hi_im_mark_shuttleworth_founder_of_ubuntu/ http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1j166z/hi_im_mark_shut...
- prezjordan 13y ago
  Rush Holt's doing one today as well! http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1j17ir/hi_im_rush_holt_im_a_member_of_congress_a/ http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1j17ir/hi_im_rush_holt...
k-mcgrady 13y ago
Is there a site which makes AMA's easier to read? Something that scans the page and picks out the comments he's replied to so I don't have to?
- kevincrane 13y ago
  I found this site when the Bill Gates AMA was out a while ago. I don't see Mark Shuttleworth on it yet, but check it out later today and it should help out. http://www.topiama.com/ http://www.topiama.com/
  - k-mcgrady 13y ago
    Excellent, just what I was looking for. Thanks!
    - qwertzlcoatl 13y ago
      I think I have what you were really looking for: http://www.reddit.com/r/tabled/comments/1j1gbv/table_iama_hi_im_mark_shuttleworth_founder_of/ http://www.reddit.com/r/tabled/comments/1j1gbv/table_iama_hi... Check out /r/tabled and /u/tabledresser - a bot that condenses the threads from /r/IAMA and /r/AskScience into easy to consume tables.
      - kevincrane 13y ago
        Whoa, that's awesome! Thanks, I didn't know about that before.
      - k-mcgrady 13y ago
        Also excellent! Thanks!

74 points by hamax 13y ago

Is it looking likely that they will hit the target? They already had HN bump and most Ubuntu fans were made aware of the project already.

mtgx 13y ago
If I were them I'd offer a 32 GB version for $600, for people who will only/mainly use it as a phone, and not a full-time computer. It's still plenty of space. That price level seems to have been pretty popular, and at that price level they may be able to hit the target. I'm not sure why they absolutely need to sell only a 128 GB version. Also, they'd be insane not to add 802.11ac Wi-fi.
- hamax 13y ago
  > I'm not sure why they absolutely need to sell only a 128 GB version. I'm just guessing here but it might be more expensive to make smaller batches with different models the to just make one.
  - kryptiskt 13y ago
    They can give them the same model with only a 32 GB partition on the flash. And then charge $200 for an upgrade to 128 GB. It's a proven business model. :-)
    - alanctgardner2 13y ago
      Unfortunately it sounds like the $600 price point only covers their BOM right now. If they put in extra engineering to disable some hardware, that's a net loss for them per unit (but they'll make it up in volume!). All the people who would upgrade have already splashed out for the 128GB model.

antidaily 13y ago

I wonder if Indiegogo takes their normal percentage for projects this large.

aroch 13y ago
Why wouldn't they? It'd be an easy way to make ~$2 million
- tjdetwiler 13y ago
  They could have tried to work a deal with indiegogo/kickstarter for a lower rate for such a high value target.
  - qwertzlcoatl 13y ago
    With the weight of the name ubuntu, I wonder why they outsourced their crowdfunding to an foreign entity. They could easily have razzed up something on their own.

fingerprinter 13y ago

I have to give Mark credit. Ubuntu changed Linux for the better. No matter what you think about Ubuntu now, Linux is far better off for Ubuntu. My biggest question for Mark would be if he regrets not going his own way earlier. IMO, Ubuntu stuck with some dead-end upstream projects for far too long. Ubuntu should have gone the mobile/phone/tablet much sooner. Ubuntu SHOULD have been what Android is now.

IgorPartola 13y ago
No reason it can't be. Android has several big issues: 1. Lots of it is ugly. I don't mean the core OS, but lots of the apps don't fit the main theme. 2. It runs on diverse hardware so performance varies. 3. OS version segmentation. This is made worse by manufactures putting their own lipstick on the vanilla OS. 4. It's not proper FOSS. Yes, you can read the source at some point later, but chances of someone that's not Google, Motorola, Samsung, or HTC having their commit actually show up in the upstream are slim to none. 5. Phones and tablets are of varying quality and come with various levels of support. The manufacturer may back it, or they may drop support as soon as they can. Flagship phones become crap phones all the time. Ubuntu may play their cards right and provide an integrated platform a la Apple's iOS devices, where software and hardware play nicely together. If they then insist on high quality apps, they may be able to get a foothold in the market. The question is, how long can the "crowd" support the right way of doing things before some exec somewhere says "We need it to have our own distinct UI"?
- mseebach 13y ago
  Point 4 is orthogonal to the others. Points 1-3: If you have an proper, FOSS system, you can't keep people from doing all those things, which they will do if it gets get any kind of meaningful traction. Point 5: You can't force manufacturers to provide support at a certain level. You can probably avoid "TIVO-ization" with licensing, but as soon as you're venturing out of "supported" territory, there's only so much you can do for regular users.
  - tjdetwiler 13y ago

hansjorg 13y ago

Link to AMA: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1j166z/hi_im_mark_shuttleworth_founder_of_ubuntu/ http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1j166z/hi_im_mark_shut...

prezjordan 13y ago
Rush Holt's doing one today as well! http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1j17ir/hi_im_rush_holt_im_a_member_of_congress_a/ http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1j17ir/hi_im_rush_holt...

k-mcgrady 13y ago

Is there a site which makes AMA's easier to read? Something that scans the page and picks out the comments he's replied to so I don't have to?

kevincrane 13y ago
I found this site when the Bill Gates AMA was out a while ago. I don't see Mark Shuttleworth on it yet, but check it out later today and it should help out. http://www.topiama.com/ http://www.topiama.com/
- k-mcgrady 13y ago
  Excellent, just what I was looking for. Thanks!
  - qwertzlcoatl 13y ago
    I think I have what you were really looking for: http://www.reddit.com/r/tabled/comments/1j1gbv/table_iama_hi_im_mark_shuttleworth_founder_of/ http://www.reddit.com/r/tabled/comments/1j1gbv/table_iama_hi... Check out /r/tabled and /u/tabledresser - a bot that condenses the threads from /r/IAMA and /r/AskScience into easy to consume tables.
    - kevincrane 13y ago
      Whoa, that's awesome! Thanks, I didn't know about that before.
    - k-mcgrady 13y ago
      Also excellent! Thanks!