05-23-2023, 05:24 PM
I would like to see more reliable software as well (though IMHO it is already much better than it was 2 years ago when I got my first PinePhone), and while we are at it also more reliable hardware (my first PinePhone had its USB circuitry fail, taking the modem offline, and also preventing data transfers over USB with JumpDrive, after not even 2 years).
The issue is that improving the software reliability would require Pine64 to invest a lot more in software than it does now, and that that would significantly drive up the price of the hardware, to the point that it would no longer be affordable to many of us. Purism is investing quite a bit in the software for its Librem 5, which is work we also benefit from, but the result is that the Librem 5 is several times more expensive than the PinePhone or the PinePhone Pro. And Purism's investments are basically what brought us the current Phosh, and also work on software like ModemManager than Plasma Mobile uses as well. So if you want something more production-ready than that, it would need an even higher investment and hence an even higher unit price. Are you prepared to pay $2000-$3000 for a smartphone? And that might not even be sufficient, given that at that price, whatever company tries that is going to sell a lot fewer units than Pine64 does now.
Neither do we have a company with deep pockets such as Google funding the software development, nor are hardware manufacturers instantly going to sell volumes as large as Samsung etc. that would allow big investments in software without driving the unit price up too much.
The issue is that improving the software reliability would require Pine64 to invest a lot more in software than it does now, and that that would significantly drive up the price of the hardware, to the point that it would no longer be affordable to many of us. Purism is investing quite a bit in the software for its Librem 5, which is work we also benefit from, but the result is that the Librem 5 is several times more expensive than the PinePhone or the PinePhone Pro. And Purism's investments are basically what brought us the current Phosh, and also work on software like ModemManager than Plasma Mobile uses as well. So if you want something more production-ready than that, it would need an even higher investment and hence an even higher unit price. Are you prepared to pay $2000-$3000 for a smartphone? And that might not even be sufficient, given that at that price, whatever company tries that is going to sell a lot fewer units than Pine64 does now.
Neither do we have a company with deep pockets such as Google funding the software development, nor are hardware manufacturers instantly going to sell volumes as large as Samsung etc. that would allow big investments in software without driving the unit price up too much.
