[fit2rule]

As someone with a drawer full of these types of devices, from the neo1973 to the Creative Labs Zii Egg and Google G1, I'll definitely be picking up one of these phones when its available .. I've had a lot of fun with my PineTime watch already, as there are a number of different OS'es available for it .. in various states of functionality, of course .. but that's the fun of it. Its SO rewarding to have a device like this, that has so many open options. Write a watch-face in Python? Hell yeah. Learn Rust and carry my lab projects around on my wrist - for sure. Its like a breath of fresh air after decades of walled gardens and proprietary junk.

That said, the Pine-* devices are definitely not .. quite .. ready for mainstream. The PineTime watch back-face is not glued on, even .. but that just makes it a perfect hacker statement! Something so very satisfying about having a device so open, the case doesn't even close. ;P

[blendergeek]

>That said, the Pine-* devices are definitely not .. quite .. ready for mainstream. The PineTime watch back-face is not glued on, even ..

This is a little unfair to the other Pine* products. The PineTime has not been released. A development kit was released. Of course the backcover wasn't fully polished. The finished products from PineTime are more polished, while still retaining a degree of hackability that is unheard of in most of the modern tech world.

[bigiain]

I'll add that my PineBook is a genuinely _nice_ piece of hardware. People who don't know what it is regularly assume it's some high-end laptop, due to it looking/feeling/behaving nicer that their $1k+ Windows laptop...

I'll admit there's a bit to go still in terms of "ready for mainstream" software, I wouldn't buy one of these for my mom still, but that's pretty much a) linux's problem, and b) _why_ I bought it in the first place... (I've got several MacBooks and iDevices for all the stuff where I'm happy enough with Steve's ghost telling me "You're holding it wrong" when it's not doing things the way I wanted/expected...)

[fit2rule]

I'm genuinely happy to be hearing that the PineBook is genuinely nice .. I'd switch to it from my MBPro in an instant, if I could. Maybe I will, soon.

My intention was not to slag off Pines' efforts. Its just, once you see a generation raised on iThings and pocketRobots, trying to get them interested in the hacky nature of Pine, as a platform, is an interesting task.

I think the point is that it has to excel over the iPhone/Android/laptop classes in some, significant, manner, or else it just gets sniffed at. This is an important thing to recognise in the quest for platform adoption.

That isn't to say that PineDevices are not productive, more useful. They clearly are, and the fact of their quality competitiveness is refreshing. The PineTime watch is actually quite a cute thing to wear. I love being able to write python code on it, but its also comfortable hardware.

But as a platform, it will need the right attitude regarding the open nature of things. This takes a responsibility not common in most adopters of technological tools these days - and with each generational release from the tethers of last years consumer toy, the task becomes harder... or lets just say, more interesting for some of the hackers who want to make great leaps in a new arena.

Someone will write the killer PineDevice app, which won't work anywhere else ..

[lewiscollard]

> I think the point is that it has to excel over the iPhone/Android/laptop classes in some, significant, manner, or else it just gets sniffed at. This is an important thing to recognise in the quest for platform adoption.

If you see mainstream domination as the goal, e.g. to surpass Android or iOS, you'll probably be disappointed. I see it as giving those of us that care about privacy, security and openness a way to opt out of the Apple/Google almost-duopoly, just as Linux distributions do for the Apple/Microsoft one on the desktop.

For me, it only needs to be just about good enough to use as a daily driver, for now. I know I will be buying the shit out of one when these are available in July.

[bigiain]

Totally this.

I messaged friends yesterday saying "I'm totally gonna get one of these, and hope _so_ much I get stopped and asked if they can see my phone next time I cross a US border..." I'd be all like "Sure! Plug this into your Cellebrite UFED! Knock yourselves out!!!"

[pwdisswordfish2]

"It's like a breath of fersh air after decades of walled garden and proprietary junk.

That said, the Pine-* are definitely not .. quite .. ready for mainstream."

Perhaps "ready for mainstream" is overrated (from a user perespective). Consider that many of the supposedly "ready for mainstream" proprietary hardware products that consumers have been continually fed for decades are laden with problems. Consumer routers are the first example that comes to mind but there are problems with almost everything, no matter how slick the marketing. The sellers try to block consumers from fixing anything and convince the buyers that they need constant "updates" that can only come from one source: the seller. They are effectively trying to destroy the concept of ownership.