Re: Alternative history: What if Jolla never existed?
 

So, Android phones are insanely expensive in other countries? There are no cheap smartphone options? I suppose that could be a way into the market, then...

Re: Alternative history: What if Jolla never existed?
 

Smartphones are not necessarily heavily subsidized but there are manufacturers that effectively dump the devices to the market. It's very very difficult to be profitable against these in small volumes.

Still dreaming about good quality qwerty-device...

Re: Alternative history: What if Jolla never existed?
 

I personally believe we are heading towards a convergence of devices and whoever gets their first with the right execution will disrupt the market.

What I talking about is the pluggable computing concept, i.e. Jolla's The Other Half or the PuzzlePhone. Both of these examples have been poorly executed in my opinion. I love The Other Half concept and for me that was Jolla's USP but they've done little more than release a few ambience changing back plates to showcase it. Without community support from dirkvl there probably wouldn't be a TOHKBD. The PuzzlePhone concept is also nice but right now it seems to be limited to nothing more than phone customisation.

A few months ago I bought a $200 Toshiba Chromebook 2, formatted it and installed regular Linux on it. I've done very little to optimise the power usage but the battery life is fantastic. I tend to get 7-10 hours on a single charge with fairly normal usage patterns. It's x86-64 based so it's pretty much a fully functional laptop. I've experienced no performance problems at all. It's obviously not great with heavy loads. Full kernel compilation takes several hours (having said that, you often only need to compile what's been changed so it's still quite usable for this purpose). It's replaced my both my i7 desktop and my HP TouchPad for 99% of my tasks.

The point I'm trying to make is that the technology is already there and affordable for many people. If not, the technology is very close. Battery life is not as much of a problem as it used to be and there are potential solutions such as the 10000mAh battery or Huawei's recently announced fast charging batteries. A single pluggable device that can be used as a smartphone, a laptop, a Psion/TOHKBD style PDA and many more kinds of imaginable form-factors is a very feasible prospect.

Now what about the OS for this pluggable device? I see no reason why it can't be based on Linux, just not based on any mobile or desktop distro that currently exists. I have some ideas about how a desktop/server distro could be adapted to be suitable for use in such a device.

Who would be interested in buying one of these devices? That really depends on the form-factors that would be available. Use your imagination. There's a huge handheld gaming market that might be interested in a gaming dock/module. A laptop dock/module could potentially appeal to desktop Linux users. I say Linux users as it starts there but once ordinary (non-Linux) users see what such a device is capable of, there is a potential for market expansion.

Re: Alternative history: What if Jolla never existed?
 

1. Invent libhybris
2. Create the awesome HADK
3. Watch awesome people make awesome ports of Mer + Glacier UI
4. TMO plods along as it always does

Re: Alternative history: What if Jolla never existed?
 

WebOS was another awesome concept with a mediocre execution.

One thing I've learned from Apple is that execution is really really important, at least as important as the ideas you're executing.

The N810 or the N900 should have been revolutionary devices, but they were both really mediocre executions. By the time the N950/N9 came, it was too late. Too much time lost, not enough momentum.

You are either first to the market with an astounding new idea, or you are able to throw vast resources at an existing idea and make the best execution of that idea in the market. Apple did the first thing in the 70s with the Apple II, and they've been doing the second thing ever since. They really nailed it with the iPod, and they never looked back. We all know the iPhone was nothing new, but they did it best.

I think in 2007, there was a chance to disrupt the market. I think the Internet Tablets should have been funded as a core project by Nokia, and they should have built phone capabilities in from the start.

Now? Unless you've got something absolutely groundbreaking, don't waste time and money reinventing wheels. Find someone with deep pockets and get to work making awesome versions of stuff that we already have. Polish the crap out of it. People will buy it.

Re: Alternative history: What if Jolla never existed?
 

Today, my daughter asked me to translate a page of her French book for her. So I held up my phone, with Google Translate open, and pressed the camera button. There was the page, but the words were being replaced with English on the page of the book, as I watched. I'd never seen it do that before. It just silently updated sometime recently.

This is the competition. Vast resources, all engines at full speed.

Re: Alternative history: What if Jolla never existed?
 

Yes, it is a possibility. Following this thinking :

1. Many tablet users (with mobile OS) who tried to replace notebook/desktop PC computers in the last years are back to PC computers in the form of ultrabook/hybrid computers running desktop OS. More important is the form factor (thin, light hardware);

2. Many smartphone users don't use the usual phone (voice call) side a lot, but mainly Internet services (social networks, web browser, email, etc);

3. Raspberry Pi can be transformed in many things, like an (smart)phone, tablet, etc. But it needs hacking a lot in terms of hardware and software;

4. Large smartphones (phablets) usage worldwide shows that large hardware (in size), like in Psion handheld computers days (e.g., Psion 5MX or Revo+) is not a problem. Just be lighter than Psion;

5. Smartphones and tablets have hardware specs like PC from few years ago, like 4-core CPU, GPU, 2-3 GB of RAM, high-res screens, etc;

6. Intel hardware for mobile devices (tablets and smartphones) are competitive nowadays in terms of price and energy efficiency;

7. Instead of mobile OS trying to become a desktop OS in behaviour (in convergent devices), why not the other way around ?

8. So, why not put a desktop OS (e.g., Linux with one of the current graphical environments which fits well for touch and different size screens) on Intel hardware, with an added phone software stack using (an optional ?) phone hardware module ?

It would be something like Openmoko GTAx, but with Intel hardware, phablet/tablet screens, and phone hardware being modular.

So :

- it would inherit decades of desktop softwares. E.g., Linux running X11/(X)Wayland. With dependencies. With multitasking. With multiuser;
- it would need few hardware drivers, mainly for the phone hardware module;
- it could be used in many form factors (phablet and tablet screen sizes, without or with hardware keyboards, etc).

Re: Alternative history: What if Jolla never existed?
 

That was win 8 no? Then the problem becomes fitting a square in a triangle-shaped hole. The result will make noone happy im afraid

Re: Alternative history: What if Jolla never existed?
 

It's been able to do that for some time but iirc Nokia Multiscanner on Symbian did it back in 2008/9. Google Translate does it a whole lot quicker and more accurately but that's just better hardware and evolved software.

I find the voice audio translation much more impressive.

Re: Alternative history: What if Jolla never existed?
 

You've hit my nerve. Where does all that power go? How come I can do LESS with my Jolla than I could do 20 years ago with my 40 MHz 80386 with 4 MB RAM and 40 MB HDD?

Maybe that's your chance to disrupt the market. Make a mobile computing device that can be actually useful, not just a toy that can make calls if you beg it nicely enough.