[gtirloni]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Touch#Target_market

Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of the company behind the Linux distribution believes that Ubuntu for phones will first find a niche in countries where Ubuntu is well known

Linux is barely well known to the general population. Let alone getting them to differentiate the Ubuntu brand.

Ubuntu strives to be “the smartphone that’s also a full PC”.[26] Canonical reports that software for the mobile version of Ubuntu is also compatible with versions for PCs and televisions. This is a feature not currently offered by other operating system companies, and aims to simplify both the use and development of the product

Pundits tell me nobody wants that, see Windows PCs, tablets, phones are servers. Right? </sarcasm>

The aforementioned PC and mobile synergy may also be attractive to corporate IT departments currently using Ubuntu to run their servers

Totally different environments that share only the fact they are powered by electricity.

Mobile devices can be connected to larger displays and other peripherals such as wireless keyboards. Windows applications can also be accessed from corporate servers onto a mobile device, which makes the transferring of data more efficient

While I think we'll get there, we are far away from our smartphones having the power to run a full PC OS with our current workloads. Perhaps Ubuntu is looking too much into the future... personally I think they need the revenue of today's reality.

I won't even comment the phrase about Windows applications as it makes no sense.

--

If the Wikipedia article accurately reflects what Canonical thinks are the selling points for their Ubuntu phones, then I believe this is going to be a sad disappointment.

Another point is that Microsoft, with all its power, can barely break the iOS/Android dominance in mind share... how Canonical plans to do that with such weak selling points?

Openness is rarely a worry for smartphone users and developers alike (only a minority of them care and the impact on revenue is probably irrelevant). So is it price alone? Cheaper than Android? If so, we are back to the ecosystem that is nonexistent yet.

I'd love a really open alternative, and things have to start somewhere, but Canonical doesn't seem positioned well enough to take on the competitors.

[Brakenshire]

> Pundits tell me nobody wants that, see Windows PCs, tablets, phones are servers. Right? </sarcasm>

People don't want the same user interface for phones, tablets and PCs, but they are likely to want access to the same underlying services. Especially if that means you can share access to data between different form factors seamlessly, without going to the cloud. Write a document on keyboard, then take your phone off to proof-read it on the couch. Receive an email while you're away from home, start writing a response, when you get home finish it using a keyboard and full screen. Download a PDF on your desktop, and then a week later while you're on the bus, or at work, remember it, and be able to read it straightaway. All your documents, bookmarks, open tabs, music in one place. Only one location to back-up. And so on.

I think it'd be useful.

[cmsj]

Or just have a cloud-centric workflow and you have billions of devices around you that can quickly access any of your data :)

[geon]

...For only $ 29 /month/GB.

[sebular]

> Linux is barely well known to the general population. Let alone getting them to differentiate the Ubuntu brand.

I think that story changes somewhat on a country-by-country basis. India, for example, has a relatively high Ubuntu adoption rate. Of course, the numbers aren't huge anywhere, and I agree that relying on the Ubuntu brand name alone isn't going to move products.

> Totally different environments that share only the fact they are powered by electricity.

At least in tech companies, specifically web development, that isn't an irrelevant thing. If your personal dev machine is running the same environment as the server where your app is running, that greatly simplifies package dependencies and deployment. If your personal dev machine is also your company-issued phone, that's very convenient.

> While I think we'll get there, we are far away from our smartphones having the power to run a full PC OS with our current workloads. Perhaps Ubuntu is looking too much into the future... personally I think they need the revenue of today's reality.

I think we're already there. With smartphone tech running rich 3D applications and powering 4K displays, I don't think any more horsepower is required for your average word processing/email/web scenario. And if we're not there yet, we certainly will be in under 5 years, and planning for a future that will soon exist is exactly how tech companies get the jump on competition (See: iPhone).

> I won't even comment the phrase about Windows applications as it makes no sense.

It makes perfect sense. Many companies now deliver the standard MS Office suite to employees via cloud solutions like Citrix (http://www.citrix.com/). And with MS and Office heading even further in that direction with native cloud implementations, having a Windows OS is becoming increasingly unnecessary. Having a DESKTOP OS is mandatory, but it doesn't need to be Windows anymore.

If these Ubuntu phones are powerful enough to run a browser smoothly in the desktop configuration, they'll be incredibly useful.

Another potential boon for Ubuntu phones is Steam on Linux. As history shows, the platform with the most games is usually the most successful. As Steamboxes begin to roll out and the platform gains more developer support, owners of Ubuntu phones will find that the device they're already carrying around is also a microconsole.

[jamesgeck0]

> As Steamboxes begin to roll out and the platform gains more developer support, owners of Ubuntu phones will find that the device they're already carrying around is also a microconsole.

If those phones have x86 processors, that is. Ubuntu phone supports ARM, but Steamboxes certainly won't.

[taeric]

Is an obvious direction to take either option, though. (Phones to x86 or steam to arm.)

I mean, sure, the heavier lifting of the games probably couldn't dream of going arm. Not sure on many of what I would presume are emulated games, though.

[diminish]

instead of being a not-android, i would like an ubuntu phone as desktop errr... notebook, laptop, netbook replacement. 5 to 6 inch, octacore, full browser, ability to drive 4K displays or TV, full ubuntu desktop. that would ultimately be the end of the PC market for devs, pros.

[mark_l_watson]

I disagree a little bit: my Samsung Galaxy III has a very nice Java IDE on it, and I can plug it into a monitor with a HDMI adapter.

I totally like the idea of in the future having just a phone,with standard docking stations when a keyboard, large monitor, bluray burners, whatever... are needed. Something like a Chromebook but even more portable.

[AlexanderDhoore]

I put my money on Mozilla with Firefox OS.

[adrianlmm]

Do you own a phone with Firefox OS?

[abrowne]

I agree with the sentiment, and I do own one and use it as my (only) phone.

[samastur]

I do and I also use it as my phone.

[yaddayadda]

Specs, please?

[pekk]

Give the baby a chance to be born before you declare it ugly.

[bad_user]

I think smartphones are more than able to meet most needs of users - word processing, browsing, writing emails and so on. The problem with smartphones is NOT processing power, but rather battery - in fact, if it seems that current smartphones are a little underpowered compared to our other gadgets, well, that's because Moore's law doesn't work so well for batteries - however we are talking about plugging in the smartphone in some sort of dock that is also connected to a keyboard and a bigger monitor, so the battery issue becomes moot.

> Another point is that Microsoft, with all its power, can barely break the iOS/Android dominance in mind share.

That's because Windows Phone doesn't bring anything new, while being as restrictive as iOS and lacking apps, plus in my opinion it's still very, very unpolished. I own a Nokia Lumia and I use it as a dumbphone, in addition to my main Nexus.

Mobile careers won't promote it because they've got nothing to gain for doing it, mobile phone makers won't build phones with it because mobile phone makers prefer stuff they can control, users don't want Windows Phone because it brings nothing new and developers don't want to target it because it has to wait in line after - the web, Android and iOS.

> Openness is rarely a worry for smartphone users and developers alike (only a minority of them care and the impact on revenue is probably irrelevant).

The success of Android proves otherwise. Android is right now number 1 in terms of market-share because it is open. Here are some facts:

(1) mobile careers promoted Android heavily because it is open , long before Android was polished or popular (2) mobile phone manufacturers chose Android, long before it was polished or popular, because it is open and so they could adopt it instead of implementing their own shitty iOS alternatives, (3) many Android users loved the ability to install on Android the kind of software that's normally banned on iOS and (4) at least one developer (me) prefers Android because it is open-source, because it allows app installs from third-party sources and because you have to be a dumb fuck to depend entirely on proprietary platforms and walled gardens.

HOWEVER, I do agree that a new OS cannot win on openness alone, because for better or worse, Android is fairly open (Amazon can testify ;-)) - maybe mobile careers could see a way out of Google Play's grip on Android, or maybe they could see it as a way to get out of Samsung's shadow, however a new OS does need more than this.

But I also think that Ubuntu brings something interesting to the table - I do want a full-fledged computer that I can carry in my pocket and that I can later connect to a full-sized keyboard and a big monitor and have a full fledged OS ready to use.

[Fomite]

> Android is right now number 1 in terms of market-share because it is open.

You're making a massive assumption regarding causality.

[Crito]

Canonical already failed to demonstrate that their community gives a damn with their failed crowdfunded flagship phone. I see absolutely nothing to indicate that the community which failed to be impressed with Ubuntu on the "Ubuntu Edge" will provide a solid niche market for it on other devices.

[niemeyer]

A lot of people would disagree that this is as bad as you paint it:

"On August 14, with 8 days until the deadline, the campaign passed the $10 million milestone.[8] The campaign passed the record for the most funded crowdfunding campaign held previously by the Pebble smartwatch on August 15."

"The campaign ended on August 21 with a final sum of $12,809,906, but was not able to meet its goal of $32 million to kickstart the project."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edge

[Crito]

If you are trying to launch a new line of smartphones, I would say that is a pretty shit turnout. They're not trying to put out wristwatches.

Unless they were half-assing it for Ubuntu Edge, or deliberately set themselves up for failure, then at the very least they have demonstrated themselves incapable of estimating demand and rallying required support. What have they done since then to correct these failings?

[pekk]

They said openly at the time that they wanted information on how many people wanted the very expensive enthusiast's phone. Putting money down on it would have been a risky bet considering how little we have seen of Ubuntu Phone.

I don't see how this is a problem for their platform.

I don't know why you are so upset that you are demanding that they "correct these failings" - what do you have staked on this? Are you upset about a competitor to some other favored product?

[Crito]

I'm not upset in the slightest. I am merely expressing my belief that they will not succeed. Ubuntu on smartphones does not make me angry any more than, say, Mars One. It would be neat if they succeed, but I do not believe they will.

I am not demanding that they correct whatever is wrong with their organization and product that resulted in the failure of Ubuntu Edge, I am asking if they have corrected the problems that resulted in the failure of Ubuntu Edge (in other words, I am asking if there is a reason that I should reevaluate whether or not I believe they will fail. If they have not made changes after Ubuntu Edge, then I don't see any reason to think that they won't fail again.)

I guess you are saying that the Ubuntu Edge crowdfunding effort was not an earnest attempt to produce a phone but was rather a sort of survey meant to gauge interest and support. If that is the case, then I think the results of the survey are quite clear, and support my assessment of their chances.