In order to maintain privacy maybe they want folks to submit special encrypted ringtones that only the owner can understand! Maybe a special tone that alerts you that your call is being recorded . Another if your phone is being hacked or security compromised in some fashion. Should also have contest for cases. Maybe a case that hides your phone so nobody knows you have a phone. Perhaps something like Maxwell Smart. A shoe case!
btw:
Having a ringtone contest now, where not even a prototype exists, is pretty pointless.
Maybe you're right. But it will be pretty meaningful to the winners of the contest when they receive (if the things go as expected) an US$599 Librem 5 Phone
Originally Posted by
Ringtones are subject to fashion. It will be at least 1.5 years before the Librem 5 will be released. Nobody knows what will be fashionable at that time.
If for some reason Purism feels the need to change the default ringtone by that time, then the current contest will have been pointless.
Maybe you're right. But it will be pretty meaningful to the winners of the contest when they receive (if the things go as expected) an US$599 Librem 5 Phone
In order to maintain privacy maybe they want folks to submit special encrypted ringtones that only the owner can understand! Maybe a special tone that alerts you that your call is being recorded . Another if your phone is being hacked or security compromised in some fashion. Should also have contest for cases. Maybe a case that hides your phone so nobody knows you have a phone. Perhaps something like Maxwell Smart. A shoe case!
You know... I never use ringtones. Hate the noise. But I do like phones that allow me to set my pulses for vibrations. I know who it is ringing me with it in my pocket or face down on the desk.
But encrypted ringtones... I never even thought of something like that.
Maybe you're right. But it will be pretty meaningful to the winners of the contest when they receive (if the things go as expected) an US$599 Librem 5 Phone
I fail to see how that helps to turn the idea of the Librem 5 into an actually buyable product.
I believe that's the metric by which each action of Purism around that project should be measured.
According to Wikipedia [1], Nokia had been producing cell phones for seven years when the Nokia Tune was introduced. I would also argue, that the Nokia Tune was NOT subject to fashion, which is why it lasted for 20 years. [2]
I'm not opposed to the idea of having a ringtone contest some day. I just think there are more important things to do for Purism right now - even for the non-technical marketing geniuses that held this contest.
Some ideas:
- making a list of pressing problems and hold a public contest for the best solutions.
- selling the idea to NXP/Qualcomm that making the i.MX 8 available to Purism would be a good idea (maybe engraving something like "powered by NXP" on the backside of the phone).
- Helping Gnome/KDE to attract devs who have experience in designing mobile GUIs.
I fail to see how that helps to turn the idea of the Librem 5 into an actually buyable product.
I believe that's the metric by which each action of Purism around that project should be measured.
You have to understand that actions like this ringtone competition etc. are not for the benefit of the "Librem Phone" development, they are part of the marketing strategy of the "Purism Company" and act towards those ends.
I myself highly doubt that the phone will ever be finished, but the buzz surrounding it is benefical for the actual business of the company which is selling overpriced computers.
You have to understand that actions like this ringtone competition etc. are not for the benefit of the "Librem Phone" development, they are part of the marketing strategy of the "Purism Company" and act towards those ends.
Oh, I understand that.
The thing is, that I believe those same people could use their skills for other things that would actually be for the benefit of the "Librem Phone" development, while still being a good marketing device.
Let's face it, the Librem 5 will only be attractive for geeks who for some reason or another want a slow FLOSS GNU Linux phone with basically no apps rather than one of a bunch of fast pseudo-open Android phones with plenty of apps.
You don't get this kind of people by letting them select the default ringtone, but by showing that you are able to tackle the technical challanges that come with such a project.
I myself highly doubt that the phone will ever be finished, but the buzz surrounding it is benefical for the actual business of the company which is selling overpriced computers.
I'm not sure how to feel about the Librem 5.
Making a lot of buzz is clearly the core competence of Purism (in that regard they are a bit like Apple). Yet they somehow managed to pull off the Librem 15 and 13 laptops. So amongst all that noise must be some technical knowledge and I think one shouldn't mistake their abundance of buzz for a lack of technical skill.
On the other hand, so far they failed to deliver the Purism 11 deatachable, which has been on their agenda for quite some time. Maybe there's a pattern here that they fail to deliver more compact devices which tend to be harder to design while being able to deliver comparatively more simple laptop designs. In that case I'd agree with you that they won't be able to deliver the Librem 5, but so far I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Well, it is quite possible it may fail. $1.5 million does not seem like very much for product development. Especially for a phone and all the design challenges it may entail. It is still over a year until release date. A lot can happen between now and then. My guess is that a phone will be released and that it will likely be a clunker by most standards in regards to hardware. On the other hand so was the Jolla phone but I still liked using it because it played like a normal linux distribution (unlike android) that I was comfortable with. Also the Jolla phone had a nice user interface which must have cost a bit to create. Probably Librem will be less sophisticated to start which is fine if functionality is the main focus.
