The free software losers did it again. They were jealous of the success of the Apple iPhone, so what do they do? They make an inferior product in which they copy as much as they can get away with. Look at these beauties:
Nice job on the drop shadows on that image guys. Couldn't use the nice reflection thing right, then it would have been too obvious. Honestly though, this thing looks like crap. What's this stupid wheel shaped thingie at the bottom left of the screen, a steering wheel or something?
But the best thing is yet to come. How would you call this sucker? Clearly, it has to be something with "open" right, because oh no, let's not even think about being original. Now, try to imagine you're a tremendous nerd and have to come up with a name for a phone. You want to break out of your room-sized world by doing something rebellious. So what do you call this sucker?
OpenMoko
Yes. Open. Moko. A moko is some kind of tattoo apparently. Very cool guys. Their tag line: "open. mobile. free." Incidentally, this is the typical FSF definition of free -- meaning $300 if you buy an alpha quality product and $450 for a beta. The iPhone goes for $500, guys, and is a chick magnet. Something running something called OpenMoko and called a "Neo", hardly does it.
Yes, the first OpenMoko phone to come out is called, wait for it, the Neo1973. Two things:
- Neo. Really? You don't think the world thinks you are hardcore nerds already? How about calling it the Skywalker phone, and referring to the iPhone as the DarthPhone?
- 1973. This is the best thing ever. You're backdating this thing 34 years, honestly? It's based on Linux, which is a Unix system which was probably last updated in 1973, so that is very honest of you guys. Hah!
2 comments:
In their defense, Neo was not a reference to the Matrix. As you may know, Neo means "New", which gives you "New 1973". This is referring to 1973 being the beginning of Linux/Unix/Opensource and saying that this phone marks a "new beginning" for opensource.
Although it *is* a ripoff of the iPhone, can you blame them? When China ripped off the iPhone, it was broadcasted on world news as something cool and cheap. You portray this, which is meant to be a huge step for opensource, as a backstep for the economy.
While true, you are only looking at it from a different perspective. If you look at it from our angle, your realize you are being unnecessarily hostile... why is opensource bad? If it is really bad, it would have already fallen apart by now; if not, then do you regard it as a threat? Why this hostility?
Anyway, I just felt with all the snickering, pointing, and laughing that's been going on behind your back, somebody ought to say facts to your face.
http://www.zefhemel.com/archives/2007/07/17/it-conservative
I do not believe in ad hominem attacks, and I believe that goes for products as well as people. Thank you.
1973 = "The first handheld mobile phone call was placed in 1973 on a prototype model."
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_DynaTAC )
OpenMoko/Neo 1973 came first, making iPhone tho copy ;)
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