YMMV, but as far as I am concerned, talking about the price is on topic. Especially in this thread and especially considering that it started with a poll about how much people would be willing to pay. You may not like some things people say but that does not diminish the validity of their arguments.

It's not about what *I* like to read, it's about general usefulnes of posts. In context: an argument is usually to make a point, a means to an end, I don't see any point being made by counting up sales prices of a number of random articles to a total that happens to be close to what's recent Neo900 sales price estimation. Tell me what shall be my conclusion from it and how I can change what I do based on it, and I'll admit that my call was odd. Or is the pupose of such statements to inform other prospects what they could get for a 1200 bucks? Then I have a remark: new N900 are not available anymore and when they were, they - if I remember correctly - were priced at 599EUR direct factory sales, so maybe the math above is not even correct.

BR
jOERG

It may be expansive but what is the open alternative to Neo900, and how much does it cost ?
Even if I still haven't ordered anything, and I may never use my coupon, I'm anyway happy to have contributed to this project.

Actually, I would even feel a little guilty if I get an opportunity to spend this amount, helping this project to succeed and I don't.
Beware, I'm not saying, everybody should blindly donate (not everyone earn the same salary and is able to pay such a sum) but the price can't fairly be directly compared to market products.

I mean, 1k€ is not only the price for a great new device, but it is the price for a totally open device (software AS hardware), made by an independant structure, with privacy and security concerns.
And it's the price to make this project work, which hopefully means other similar independant projects may work beyond this one.

You may think it's overpriced and Neo900UG could have lowered this priced by doing such or such thing. Somehow, I personally think they should have worked to make know the Neo900 to far more people.
But it doesn't really matter. Today, it's the price ! And according to Joerg, it's a maximum price, so it may decrease but CAN NOT increase further.
So your choice should just be the result of an equation beween your bank account and how you value the possibility of such a device to exist / how much you are ready to spend to get one.

Whatever happens now, I'm happy to have donated and I sincerely wish the Neo900 will be released, wether I buy it or not !

So a related question, how is software development going for the project? I realize it is community based but that would be frustrating for people to buy one of these and not have basic functionality (email, text, MMS, phone) and have to wait and hope software is developed for it. With a limited run it is unlikely a ton of devs will rush to program...

chat with the boys over at fptf for how things are going fremantle -wise.

considering the open nature of the hardware and the fact pretty much whatever works on the openmoko line will run on the neo..
as well just about whatever distro that could be run ( meeting the neo specs. ) ...
well ...I don't quite see a prob software devel - wise there...
so..you'll have freemantle community , openmoko's community to dive into.., possibly 'buntu's , and I'd imagine other telephony-enabled handheld distros considering the neo versatility..
So if fptf is going to take a bit to finish freemantle and you'll have your neo first...then install shr or qtmoko or 'buntu or whichever telephony enabled platform you wish in the mean time while you wait for freemantle to be finished..

and as far as straight-up distros that could work and their software...and their communities...well...same thing there..greater number there I'd imagine...
how many communities do you need to be a part of for one device?
or is it more ...like...institution ...corporate-like structure you are referring to...with consistent update schedules, and of course with that...the inevitable "last" and "final" software update that that kind of "safe" structure brings...just before the new company device comes out.
Not interested there in that ...as great as they were..we had that paradigm with Nokia.

I'm curious as to how "many" and what "kind" of devel enviros. and tools could be utilized to create with ...."for" the neo...
I'd imagine the old standby's such as Scratchbox and Qt for Freemantle..
I hadn't given this specific topic alot of thought...what else can be utilized...I am curious...since this is really new ...exciting ...undiscovered country that is being trod here...

@joerg_rw : I'm aware that your estimation price is made without any marge, and with 500 units. But I'm starting to be very pessimistic about the number of customers, because of the price.
I wanted to make a news on a populaire Linux website, but I didn't find any link to the webshop. Will it be accessible publicly ? It could increase the number of customers.

It's hard to read something like that in a post which quotes me oO. On the contrary, I'm very disapointed to not being able to buy it, I can't say I'm happy about that.

If I remember well, the GTA 04 motherboard was less expensive (and had lower specs). We will see with the new one. And there is still the Jolla with Sailfish. Since it's based on Mer, only the UI is not free, and some drivers. It's not completly open, but it's something.

Especially that the price was to be about 600 EUR, iirc.

Complaining about the way things have developed is definitely on topic for this thread. As I mentioned some weeks ago, this increasingly looks to be a failed project, and shipping a few 1000€-plus units won't change its status as an overall failure.

The more people voice their disappointment, the more the community might push for an alternative which, even if it involves giving up the privacy feature of the Neo900 (which was not the main draw for many interested N900 owners anyway), at least has a real shot of giving people much at what they want at a more affordable price.

You're free to think this way, but I have to ask you to reconsider your own expectations. Maybe they were incorrect from beginning, when even what I'd call a full success is a fail in your world.
Of course, go ahead, start your own project, I'm quite willing to point everybody to the alternatives, like I did for e.g. Jolla from beginning. But complaining in here will neither change what happens in/to Neo900 nor will it do your new project much of a favor.

BR
jOERG

Alriteythen...
Just for the sake of argument...
say the security and privacy ideal is dropped...
Aim lower and go with closed blobs and proprietary crap..making things "possibly" more affordable

1- Well then... why don't we all just migrate to n9's or Jolla's ...why don't we all just keep polishing our n900's ...
cause I don't see a point.

2- closed-up we are looking at a very finite number of os's that "maybe" will run...and a very narrowed lifespan. Look at what a little more than 5 years has done for us with the closed n900... much longer and it'll only be easy deb that'll work on it and that won't last forever ...there will come a point where it won't be able to be a valid "current" alternative.

2- With a device that "is" open we can put whatever os that can be crammed in ...and that means 10+ years down the road ones that are meant for older specs and hardware
And that means we would still have fully-functioning devices into the distant future

3- As freakin' expensive as it "MAY" end up being...
(and sure the upper-end new estimate for a finished device doesn't thrill me either...and I ain't down-playing the situation or pie-in-the-sky fanboy-ing it either...)
If the neo performs as stated...then there isn't any rival on the planet.

edit:
Oh and I almost forgot...
It is rare ..
but I can be an impatient B-tard...
I haven't gotten my ticket yet.
Where's my voucher dammit?!?!
I need to get in on the rapture of the convoluted process