Comment Re:What's the deal with those queer ideas. (Score 1) 141
I hate to say it and I hope no one takes it the wrong way but what you're saying has been the long standing problem with open source for open source's sake.
People generally need a reason to switch platforms. So far almost everything from open source that hasn't been on the server side has been about how the product is "just as good" as the closed source equivalent. Do the open source advocates really think I'm going to switch platforms over something that is "just as good" with no clear advantages? I think that's where a lot of resistance comes from and frankly I don't blame people who see it this way. I really can't imagine someone switching from Windows to Linux or OSX without someone to hold their hand through the process. There is a remarkable effect on the user by having someone to ask a question to. Search engines just don't cut it if you don't know what you're talking about in the first place. At least not like an experience user would.
Android had a virtue of being ready to make a go of it in a fertile emerging market. No one using a dumbphone had anything to lose by going with the Android handset. The same won't be true of Ubuntu phone. Google has done a fine job of value added services like Google Play in the same way Apple did with iCloud and iTunes Match. If MS would have had the same advantages about two years before getting back into the phone market they would have had a great marketshare now too. MS is only making real headway in (tada!) emerging markets.
I can't speak for what global market saturation really looks like but unless Shuttleworth can get his foot in the door there his phone is going to remain a niche player that likely will never see numbers better than Windows phone let alone iPhone.
People generally need a reason to switch platforms. So far almost everything from open source that hasn't been on the server side has been about how the product is "just as good" as the closed source equivalent. Do the open source advocates really think I'm going to switch platforms over something that is "just as good" with no clear advantages? I think that's where a lot of resistance comes from and frankly I don't blame people who see it this way. I really can't imagine someone switching from Windows to Linux or OSX without someone to hold their hand through the process. There is a remarkable effect on the user by having someone to ask a question to. Search engines just don't cut it if you don't know what you're talking about in the first place. At least not like an experience user would.
Android had a virtue of being ready to make a go of it in a fertile emerging market. No one using a dumbphone had anything to lose by going with the Android handset. The same won't be true of Ubuntu phone. Google has done a fine job of value added services like Google Play in the same way Apple did with iCloud and iTunes Match. If MS would have had the same advantages about two years before getting back into the phone market they would have had a great marketshare now too. MS is only making real headway in (tada!) emerging markets.
I can't speak for what global market saturation really looks like but unless Shuttleworth can get his foot in the door there his phone is going to remain a niche player that likely will never see numbers better than Windows phone let alone iPhone.