This might be a topic to discuss on Fairphones’s forum if I want more detailed info from people on their forum. However, while I have Fairphone now, I just wanted to give the perspectives to Framework people.
Perhaps, the VCs in Silicon Valley may prefer to fund a company in Silicon Valley like Framework according to the book “The New Geography Of Jobs - Enrico Moretti” - Chapter 4. Forces to Attraction published in 2013 that I read in the past. It is “old” info before remote working was more promoted as the present. I think the situation can be different now.
The article below is cited in the text. I just paste the info.
Syndication Networks and the Spatial Distribution of Venture Capital Investments on JSTOR
Sociological investigations of economic exchange reveal how institutions and social structures shape transaction patterns among economic actors. This article explores how interfirm networks in the U.S. venture capital (VC) market affect spatial patterns of exchange. Evidence suggests that information about potential investment opportunities generally circulates within geographic and industry spaces. In turn, the circumscribed flow of information within these spaces contributes to the geographic‐ and industry‐localization of VC investments.
Well I’m going to be one in a very small minority here. There are many good ideas in this thread but I strongly believe Framework should continue to walk before they try running. There is so much scope for different laptop sizes, screen types, processors etc that it will take years for Framework to offer the range that many other computer companies do.
I have no problem with them expending into some computer peripherals like eGPUs etc but do we really want them to diversify and spread their expertise so thinly into other non-related consumer electronics?
Keep doing what you’re good at and maybe, when the company is fully established, you can think of other business models. Samsung and LG know how to build washing machines and TVs, as well as computers, but I don’t want that from Framework for at least the next five years. Be a great computer company first!
That isn’t a choice they get to make. It’s a requirement at this point to be competitive. Look at MacBooks, look at Pixel phones, look at Surface laptops, or game consoles. Look at the current iteration of the FW laptop. Users on the forum want Coreboot, the only way that happens is if the company will dev that. I like this community but I wouldn’t trust a community firmware for my laptop. Any new hardware product is going to require custom firmware/software. If off-the-shelf was available, someone would have done this already.
You aren’t. See my first and second posts in this thread. It is critical that FW first smooth out any issues with current products (battery drain from expansion cards/standby battery drain, RTC issues, etc) before even considering branching into new products. If they don’t they will lose so much support from users, myself included for giving continued support and sustainability mere lip-service.
There’s a difference between a hardware company that makes products with a software layer vs. a software company that sells hardware. Lenovo and Acer make hardware that runs software largely produced by other companies. Apple and Google are software companies that sell hardware - Apple’s always been that, and Google has become that.
If Framework is directly competing with Apple or Google or Microsoft, they have to become a software house… So far that’s not what they’re doing; they’re competing in the hardware space.
To be clear, I’d love an alternative to Android or Apple in the phone or tablet space. But that’s largely about the software, not the hardware, and represents a big departure from Frameworks’ current model.
Hardware is just a brick without software. Look at the atrocious battery life of the FW laptop. Now compare it to any other laptop. Some of that is down to hardware choices but I would argue that every other laptop maker has spent decades refining their firmware, Framework needs to compete with that. Especially Apple, a company that has built it’s entire reputation on hardware and software integration. It isnt enough to merely produce a mainboard and chassis. Look at Valve and the Steam Deck, the project is only viable because of Proton and WINE, in other words, software integration. Every hardware manufacturer, if it wants to continue to exist, must always improve software integration.
Agreed: there’s absolutely room for Framework to improve their firmware, and that should be high priority.
But there’s a big difference between a hardware company writing firmware for their products on the one hand, and software companies like Apple, MS, Google, and Valve producing hardware to run their software on the other hand. Frameworks’ competitors aren’t Apple or Microsoft; they’re competing against Dell, Lenovo, Acer, and other laptop manufacturers.
I’m not saying Framework couldn’t or shouldn’t move into the software space; I’m saying they’re not there now, and getting into software development on that scale requires a much bigger investment. It’s also orthogonal to their company mission of selling hardware that users can maintain and upgrade.
I think Framework should first expand in multiple smaller areas. Just making an official mini-pc would be a good idea(not just 3d printed case, one that looks more like a project valerie from microsoft)
My Framework replaced my Thinkpad which replaced a Dell. I didn’t buy any of those computers for software because I was happy to run Ubuntu on all of them. My only requirement is good Ubuntu support, which Framework has.
A tablet would be nice that you could dual boot Android and a arm and touch base Linux distro. Though I find that the Samsung tablets are (atleast the one i have) is fairly repairable, havn’t looked for parts, and though its screen its glued you can dissaseble it. Though it could be easier. But it would be cool it you could upgrade it.
It would be cool if there where an Linux-tablet. Though i think dual-booting would be an important due to the fact that the linux software isn’t there yet when it comes to tablets.
I haven’t seen any linuxtablet thats in terms of specs and quality as a viable consumer product. The JingPad is the closest i’ve seen. But thats gone now.
It would be cool if a Framephone ever would be done, it would be designed around the Fairphone 4 so that som of the parts where interchangable. Replace the your broken usb-c port on your Framephone with an usb-c port from Fairphone 4 for example. Or battery or screen etc.
I was thinking about some repairable accessories which is commonly required by the same target audience. The first one came to my mind is a portable screen, which can make use of the same panel used in framework laptop. It can also have the same features like swappable I/O like FW laptops.
Low hanging fruit before going after cutting edge stuff. Lead times for laptops are too long, options too few, etc so please address these issues before chasing new shiny things.
I want to sell these laptops to my customers, potentially hundreds per year to medical, government, police forces, etc but I need more than just a small thin and light option that can take months to ship. I need readily available stock with less than 1 week delivery and I need at least a 15 inch screen option and a more rugged design or some sort of rugged case for each size. If you can address these things you could begin to truly change the landscape of laptops toward repairable and upgradeable devices significantly more than a few here and there direct to consumers.
First finish making the best possible laptop, so that FW can jump into the mainstream with it.
A polycarbonate, ruggedized version of the laptop with space for bigger cylider Li-ion batteries and built-in low-profile mechanical keyboard. This enclosure could be made in the USA. Maybe even farmed out e.g. to a US keyboard maker like Wasd.
A proper “NUC” standalone computer, based on a lower-end processor e.g. 1235U, with four USB-C (no slots).
A new motherboard based on an ARM64 processor and with 32GB LPDDR5 RAM.
A new motherboard based on a 9 watt Intel processor for people who’re concerned about fan noise.
A robot vacuum kit based on the Raspberry Pi. I’ve seen videos of people making these from spare parts in an afternoon, but a kit would be so much nicer.
More about the vacuum: Every year, people buy robot vacuums. Often it is their 2nd, because the first one was the cheapest, randomizing vacuum. So they upgrade for better software, maybe mopping, maybe LIDAR. What annoys people are the “gotchas” of needing to pay for extra cleaning paraphenalia e.g. for mopping. Some people stop using a robot vacuum because of these hidden costs.
One detail that goes unnoticed though, is that consumers who have technically savvy kids may see a robot vacuum as a dead end: They cannot program the vacuum. Vacuums are just boring unprorarmmable appliances. They are not parent-and-kid projects.
A Pi-based vacuum kit could be an open ended project. If you want to help educate the next generation of AI enthusiasts and roboticists, and facilitate parent-child bonding experiences, I say a robot vacuum kit would be a good way.
The problem seems to be that multiple funded organizations wanted to move in and own Linux on the phone, like prospectors seeking control of some gold in the ground, and each stopped serious work before finishing. Each “flavor” of Linux phone OS is therefore unfinished, buggy, and neglected in various ways.
Yes, I would like to see them complete their primary task of making the best laptops.
That said, they do need to find a new, consistent money-maker. Eventually if they don’t go mainstream (e.g. selling at Costco), they will run out of enthusiasts to sell new laptops to. My guess is that they are already looking at a graph of a decreasing demand. (That is also partly because of the glossy screen. Glossy is becoming less and less popular every year…)
Most of the suggestions so far (printer, earbuds etc.) are not very feasible.
Yes and no. I really see why a glaring screen can be a bad choice but as shown in this LTT video there are also clear advantages to a glaring screen (pun intended). The right way to go here would be to offer both variants as a choice for new Laptops and as a replacement part. Or simply a perfectly sized foil which can be added afterwards if needed.