Jolla underestimated the interest; as there were a 989 voters in the poll Next gen Jolla Phone , Jolla thought maybe they can reach 2× that number painfully in a month, and 3 days into it we’re thinking on what could happen if/when we go over 4000.
As a consequence, the pre-order page was a bit incomplete when they launched it, should have mentioned:
- the actual amounts available in the first batch (Jolla said they had “some quota left” Jolla Phone Pre-order campaign has started - #318 by Jolla when reaching 2000 but not the exact number) and what happens after that;
- in more detail what happens with non-EU/NO/CH purchasers.The webpage says it’s not a market but the form accepts foreign addresses and takes the money. A streamlined “my country is not in the list” providing an easy interface for non-European people to express their interest (not an email) would have helped.
I’m not trying to be negative about Jolla, it’s just a reflection on “rich people’s problem”, problems Jolla is lucky to have. It seems technology websites all copied the news and brought new people in. I’m hopeful the amount they raised can guarantee several full time employees to work on the OS.
- Jolla got the pre-order money, and they’ll get the full order money later on.
- Jolla will sell small accessories (other colour backplate, batteries, plastic case, glass cover) even though this is peanuts.
- Jolla will sell OS licences to most if not all (I personally used SailfishOS for 4 years on the free licence, I don’t need anything the paid licence offers, later purchased one just to support the project).
- A fraction of the Jolla Phone purchasers will take the opportunity for a voluntary subscription.
All of this is good for Jolla and therefore for our community but I feel Jolla could do a little more:
- Point us to accessories that Jolla tested and work well (e.g. USB-C splitters, audio DACs, Bluetooth accessories), selling them though links that get them a small profit.
- US competitor Purism sells SIM data plans (at abusive prices, $40-100/month for ridiculously small amounts of data).
- EU Competitor /e/ Murena sells cloud space.
Maybe Jolla could consider some of these ideas.
Given the list of virtual mobile phone operators that exist today, it seems it’s not too difficult to become one, and having Jolla in charge of negotiating contracts with physical operators would enable them to make sure VoLTE or 5G or any next technology will work on our phones.
Cloud space for the backups or images should be quite easy to set up. Encryption of the backup file on the device (without Jolla ever having the key) is fundamental and would cost some battery charge, but once per day and would not be significant.
It’s great that some of us took a voluntary subscription, but having actual services would help. I would be happy to use Jolla for services if Jolla would set up services that our community needs beyond OS updates.
NB I intended to reply to Jolla not @CLMA31