iPhone 3G release brings out the freetards
On the right - the 3G iPhone. The left? Openmoko FreeRunner.
The iPhone is a delight to use and look at. The FreeRunner is neither, but it’s open source.
Now, choose one.
Struggling to pick? Here are a few more points to consider:
- the iPhone costs $200 less to purchase and use (in the US)
- the iPhone is 3G enabled, FreeRunner is not
- the iPhone has a multi-touch interface, FreeRunner does not
- the iPhone has a camera
And if that weren’t enough, the iPhone is beautifully designed inside and out, and developers are treated to a powerful development framework.
So why would anybody prefer the FreeRunner?
The FSF (Free Software Federation) gives 5 reasons, bemoaning barriers to free development on the iPhone, as well as its association with DRM creative IP protection. Most of these contentions happen to be entirely misrepresentative, but let’s assume for a minute that the argument is accurate, and that Apple dictates the terms on which others may interact with their invention. Is this such a bad thing?
The differences between the iPhone and FreeRunner is a perfect illustration of the power of “closed”. Without closing the iPhone platform and charging developers 30% of their application sales, it would have been infeasible to build and sell the iPhone, or at the very least, invest so much in its development.
I personally don’t agree with DRM (or indeed with treating creative products as property) and I would prefer if developers weren’t vetted (and charged) by Apple, but if such is the price to pay to use such a well-designed product, then so be it.
When barriers to free-use are for the purpose of enabling awesome product development, the strategy should be treated as a success, not a failure.
Are those images to scale? I thought the FreeRunner was bigger.
It’s not as nice to use but I do like the way it looks. You can change it if you have access to a CAD machine.
As for the cost, that iPhone may well cost you a lot more with the data plan and contract
For me, this is not a difficult decision. I’d take the FreeRunner over the iPhone any day; the only question is whether I should get a new telephone at all.
As long as something like the Openmoko telephones are available and thriving, the iPhone isn’t such a big threat, but imagine if it had a monopoly. Contracts are AT&T only, application are Apple app store only.
I’d be happy with my ten year old black and white phone if it had an open SDK so I can change the annoyances. That’s such a killer feature.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:35 pmHi Sunnan, thanks for your comment.
The images are very close to being to scale - the Freerunner is 4.75 x 2.44 x 0.73 inches while the iPhone is 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.48.
Regarding the cost, I’ve used Ian Douglas’ analysis as linked to above. I appreciate that this will be different outside of the US, however you should note that the data and voice plans will often be identical for the two phones.
Regarding a monopoly on applications, while I think it could be a concern that all applications pass through the iTunes store, Apple has shown that it will generally approve any application that meets its reasonable standards. The 30% take is not onerous, and in my opinion will not reduce the number of quality applications available.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:28 amHi, Ozan.
It’s odd that the iPhone has half the number of pixels if the screen is that much bigger. (Then again, the Freerunner has a number of other “odd” limitations, as well.)
Thanks for the link, I didn’t see where it went at first (I thought it was just an upfront cost difference since that was also at $200). I guess everyone will have to make their own math if they’re not using AT&T.
As for the third point; this is the showstopper for me. Let’s say that I download an application that I like, but I want to change something. I’d need a dev account on Apple to do that (which costs money, and they could revoke it). Further more, let’s say I want to do something illegal, like run emulation software like dosbox or a NES emulator (well, the emulator itself isn’t illegal, the emulated software might be). That wouldn’t be easy to get past Apple, either.
July 18th, 2008 at 6:03 pmSunnan, if you have no qualms about doing something illegal, then the last thing you’d be worried about is getting an application through iTunes. NES emulators were made available on jailbroken phones many months ago, for instance.
As for modifying others’ applications, while this is a nice thing to be able to do, only a tiny fraction of users would ever consider it. Furthermore, in this market it would greatly reduce the number and quality of developers who would be interested in developing applications.
July 19th, 2008 at 7:22 pmI chose the freerunner for lots of reasons
firstly, because I don’t need a contract on the freerunner — I live in the country where there is no cellular reception, but I like to have a mobile phone when I travel; but should I decide to stay at home for three months, I don’t want to be forced to pay for gsm service, when I am not using it…. I would rather pay $800 for an iphone, and have no contract, than be forced to a two year commitment (I took the sim card out of my sierra wireless 875u, which did not require a contract to get service from att, and in the freerunner, it makes calls as well as connects to att and partner carriers all over the world
secondly, because I like to support free open source software of the linux variety
thirdly, because it is more like a computer than a phone… it has a 400 mhz arm4t processor, and it is capable of running openmoko, qt extended (formerly qtopia), debian linux, or google android… I can compile and install whatever apps I want, and I never have to worry about violating apples end user license agreement
my biggest gripe with it however is that it is triband instead of quadband — i bought two, one for U.S., and another for rest of the world…
as far as the camera… well phone cameras just don’t compare to real cameras, so why bother (except maybe the sharp 903 and 904 series for vodaphone, which boasts cameras with greater than 3mp resolution)
December 27th, 2008 at 5:24 pm