Thanks for your kind reply. I donated to the neo900 project when it was first announced, because it sounded like a nice refresh of the n900 devices. Doubling or quadrupling the RAM in an n900 would help a lot. I still use one of my n900s every day, mostly as a little ipython calculator, but I run some other apps too. Also, on rare occasions I will get a call from work when I'm away from any computers, and I have to run one of the X11 apps we've developed at work, so having a very portable X11 server (I tether it to my Android phone) is a real bonus for me. I've never found an X11 server app for Android that was usable.

For me, the additional privacy was never the big selling point. I wanted a better n900.

You can still buy new Android phones with removable batteries. Call me hopelessly naive if you will, but I don't believe they have secret inner batteries capable of keeping them running for hours after the main battery has been removed.

Not sure how to take the news; however I hope that they release a product and it finds pockets and customers that want what they are selling.

I wish these guys nothing but the best of luck on their endeavors.

But please... for the sake of future success - please communicate better, more often and more clearly.

I think you right about that. But capacitors can hold charges for a short time while the batteries is out for example. And there has been more than a few energy producing tech that can generate some kind of power. ex., https://www.wired.com/story/this-cel...out-a-battery/ , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snZWgAZqo2c and https://www.technologyreview.com/s/5...net-of-things/

And let's not forget that thin these days more and more equals none removable batteries.

But I don't think those thing are common or even used currently, I was just giving a case of why privacy could be seen as important.

Thank you for the fun conversation.

x

Ken-Young is spot on. The privacy argument is moot. The project started as an N900 with more RAM and newer CPU, nothing else. That's what the poll asks, how much would you pay for one. That's what I signed up for. The quote was €700 for a complete device. A bit pricey but what the hell.

I started losing faith in the whole endeavour when all this mission creep with extra features and switchable modem started and lost it completely when the price doubled overnight, with the noises from the team, "it was always meant to be for the board only!" Sure, Eurasia has always been our ally. The poor communication, chaos about moving the money twice and demanding extra contribution did not inspire much confidence either. Well done, you have successfully turned your most devout supporter into the hardest skeptic.

And now a Kickstarter? After all these years? Without even a working prototype to tease people with? Good luck with that!

I MUST correct myself.
I am the first to admit I made an error.
Yes the kickstarter was indeed intended.

I am wrong and will most certainly retract my statement that it was not meant to be.

That does not mean that the moving full steam ahead after a year of update silence ...with immediate mention that a kickstarter is going to happen.. ...and as has been already mentioned ...under what circumstances is the kickstarter being done...because it is scheduled to be done ? or out of another necessity ..

Also ...stated in this update .... that there is still uncertainty over the projects ultimate successful completion.
After 4 years ...still no clue? really?
this also doesn't fill one with a greater sense of faith ...
asking people to donate half way through the game after a years silence ...saying we could still lose ...
is not a good way to restart a dust covered update .

As far as people mentioning the neo will be priceless...
why yes...
in 3 ways the term priceless applies...
one of a kind...
and un-affordable
and unobtainable .

At one point yes it could be considered one of a kind..."priceless"

But as has been mentioned...
with time...now.....halfway through 2017...
My garbage 2 1/2 year old android phone is on par with the estimated hard specs of the neo.

Also what was "priceless " in the one of a kind arena for the neo....
was...
1- its lack of proprietary blobs and backdoors..
2- the privacy issue is a muddy puddle of dispute..
3- that it would be a linux based device / phone
4- that it could run a cleaned up maemo as well.

But since 2013 ....
there is the pocket chip and the flavors of Pi that are doing remarkable things ...for under $50. ....and they aren't far away now from proper telephony....it is simply a small step away for them.
Linux is running on them...
Sure it may have proprietary bits..
But still.
at this point in the timeline of what is available ...
It looks very attractive...

So I must say at this late in the game ...
the term priceless in ref to the neo is more and more applying to the last two meanings for "priceless" ...than anything else...
Un- affordable ...
and unobtainable...

Agree with this. They have hit the nail on the head and the statements made on the Neo900 website are worth the 100 Euro I have contributed. (I am far from making 700 Euro monthly)

its a noble thing to do to support and donate to a project that has a product at the end of it...with no intent of getting one...
I believe in supporting projects as well...
But not so cavalierly ...when such sums are on the line.
If I donate such high sums with the express belief that nothing may come of it...
I would sooner donate $1800 to a worthwhile cause ...feeding the hungry....sheltering the homeless....
Such a sum goes a long way...
SOMETHING comes of that applied donation.

Hard to argue with the many point from endsormeans, pichlo. and yeah it seems bleak for a finished product ... But name something that has all the features and the size of the neo900. I like the pyra but it's too game focus and a few other that seems kinda of close .. but always seem to have a deal breaker for me.

Though eventually we may be able to run Maemo on a pocket chip device
x

exactly...

the main issue I see is keeping our community alive...
keeping our os alive.
engineering maemo to run on a select device or devices doe not help...just narrows and stretches out the same prob. we have been dealing with.

Faking it and making a maemo looking "skin" over debian ...would even at worst...make me happy at home on the laptop...

Making a proper flexible maemo distro good for arm is great.
more important is breaking out of the small form factor....
and being a proper distro. then most certainly we can wait until whatever devices come along which are right.
Also as a proper distro we then can gain a huge base of users again.
support is easier. we can much more easily keep current..and bide our time...
just being locked on arm hampers us...hamstrings us...to a slow death by atrophy ...stuck on a specific device or two.
It really steers us straight into an extinction-esque bottleneck ...
Has in fact from year one.

Maemo survival is the Primary reason I jumped onto the neo bandwagon.
Linux based device was the Secondary.

the last 3 years has seen an explosion of affordable linux handheld ...at prices that one cannot ignore .
proprietary blobs, backdoors, and lack of telephony are the only issue they have.
and it won't be long and the telephony issue ...won't be an issue...

So then the relevancy of the neo project is direct issue at that very moment....when a complete $50 pocketchip setup or $25 pi setup is in direct competition for what the neo is supposed to do.
sans the proprietary blobs and privacy (muddy water there) issues.

No ...as the years have past and innovative projects are managing to do wonders with FAR less ...and ask FAR FAR FAR less for the finished product...
The neo will increasingly be a harder and harder sell I am afraid.

It is priceless because it don't exists and I want to have it
Don't take me to serious. It is my point of view from a N900 addicted person. And sure I have a limit too.


I like the idea to have a small pocket computer with a cellular modem, many nice electronic possibilities and features which is as much as open as it can and tries to be secure from the hardware side.
Is there a compareable project or ready product? There are some nice open projects but none of them is like this and combines so much things together in a form factor I like. In addition you can also save some resources when upgrading an old hardware or buy a refurbished one.

Sounds great to me. But also challenging.

And yes you will never get a fully private secure device but a device which makes it harder for none government agencies to spy on.

I am still using my N900 and I still would like to buy a Neo900.
Both are outdated but enough for my needs.
The only thing what I am worry about is the Maemo OS which is outdated too. Make Maemo free from blobs and porting to other old devices would attract more people. And we need more people to maintain Maemo or something like hildon-devuan maemo like os.