Revision history [back]

Hello,

I've gone through the original post at https://together.jolla.com/question/43398/rant-jolla-philosophy/ and even though i agree to some extend, i wouldn't like to focus on those bits.

My points are mostly towards the support and the relationship between Jolla and the end user. In this post, i will try to list my complaint and at the same time some suggestions, and hopefully people will not close it as "subjective".

I'm one of the first people to pre-order Jolla and also order the phone when it was released. I've been silently following this project since it's original announcement and i believe I've seen most of the news and discussion about the phone before it's release.

Overall, I love the phone and its features, so i think i made the right decision last year, however there are some areas that i think should improve so i can remain a fan and not head to different phones.

Hardware support

1. It is unacceptable to have such a limited store. Cases and screen protectors appeared nearly half a year after the release of the phone, and obviously given the fact that this is not a popular phone, it's almost impossible to source items from the internet.
2. Batteries are also something that's missing from the store. It's once again an item you cannot source and the phone seems to have developed some battery issues where the power goes from 10% to 5% in around 3 minutes when i'm just browsing the web and all apps are closed. I will not mention the fact that i cannot have a spare battery if i need to travel. People might argue that this is no longer a feature in most big brands, however to me it is a big advantage and selling point of the phone. Ideas like this were one of the reasons why i chose to support Jolla.
3. Hardware keyboard. I understand that they've never officially confirmed that they were going to develop one, but they would give the community the means to develop it. This is perfectly acceptable, however given that the community is so late (nearly a year after release, and closer to jolla v2 possibly with different design) in developing something that was another huge selling point, i think it wouldn't harm to assign some resources to assist in the development and release of it.
4. TOH colors. On the original demo, there was a rainbow collection of colors for TOH and on the store i can only see 3! Where are the other colors and how can we come across them? It's understandable that there might not be enough demand for them, but it would be great if we could at least arrange a group order for a specific color through the official store.

Software Support

Overall, i'm really happy with the releases and the bug fixes and it seems they put too much effort in this. It would be unreasonable to expect them to code faster or close the issues any sooner and this is something we all knew before we chose to support this project. However:

1. Community releases: You should allow the community developers to put apps on your store sooner especially if they are helping to improve the core usability of the phone. I've been waiting for a release of the Greek UI or even SW keyboard for long, and i have even contacted Jolla directly offering (for free obviously) my time to help them with the translation, but i was turned down and sent to the community. I understand there are unofficial releases, but they are not as easy to install, so it makes me wonder why Jolla doesn't include those to their store and what would it take to do so.

MISC

1. Most countries have at least one provider that's close to the community and also young people. In Greece there are plenty, and in the UK there is GiffGaff which has a similar ideology in terms of appealing to the public for suggestion and ideas. In most cases they hear and they follow what the users say. I'm unsure why Jolla is not included on their phones list and why they haven't got a joined campaign to promote the phone, but i would think it's highly unlikely to have turned Jolla's offer down.
2. Given that i was one of the first to pre-order the phone, i was hoping for something more in terms of support. In china, they got the fancy box, the signed cards and lower price, whereas the people who supported the project from its birth, are now part of the bunch.
3. A few months back, i was in the unfortunate position to drop my phone and smash the gorilla glass. Everything works fine, but the glass is now shattered. Rather than paying half the price of the phone, i would expect to be able to get a glass on its own and fit it myself or at a local shop. I'm certain the glass doesn't cost much, and given that this would be a one-way transfer (Jolla->Me) it would certainly be cheaper than having to send it back for replacement of all the screen components. Even selling the whole screen would cost less, and i'm pretty certain people would rather invalidate their warranty, than end up paying nearly half the price of the phone. Especially given the fact you can get Chinese Android phone with better specs for that much. I read that the price for such a replacement is now around 120EUR but that still excludes P&P and is still quite expensive considering that you can get a gorilla glasse for Sammy for around 20EUR.

Overall, i wouldn't recommend the phone to a friend, but i would certainly recommend Sailfish to someone who would like something different. Unfortunately, for most people, the phone is Sailfish and Sailfish is the phone, and I'm hoping some things will change in the future, or I'll end up turning my back to the project.

In my eyes, when someone asks the community for support, he should offer support back to the community to allow them to advance faster and easier. This is even more important when it comes to hardware where only a few people have the knowledge and fewer have the connections needed to produce something in a factory in China.

When i committed to buy the phone and support their ideology, i hoped that they would be different than the rest in all areas, would provide support and assist the community to advance not only on software (like on N900/N9) but on all aspects of the hardware. Many people would gladly donate their time to help, but it seems that for some reason, they don't want direct support in all areas.

Looking forward for your views, and possibly ideas as to what i can do as an individual (web developer) to further support the project and resolve the support and hardware issues mentioned above.

Thanks for reading

p.s. As mentioned before, I've contacted Jolla directly for some of my problems and i was directed to the community. This is the only official forum, and in my eyes the "official" way to get both the community's and the company's views. The rest of the forums, can still provide superb support, but i doubt they can give insider views to the items above. if you close this topic, i would ask you to put a response as to your reasons so i can hopefully improve my communication in the future.

Hello,

I've gone through the original post at https://together.jolla.com/question/43398/rant-jolla-philosophy/ and even though i agree to some extend, i wouldn't like to focus on those bits.

My points are mostly towards the support and the relationship between Jolla and the end user. In this post, i will try to list my complaint and at the same time some suggestions, and hopefully people will not close it as "subjective".

I'm one of the first people to pre-order Jolla and also order the phone when it was released. I've been silently following this project since it's original announcement and i believe I've seen most of the news and discussion about the phone before it's release.

Overall, I love the phone and its features, so i think i made the right decision last year, however there are some areas that i think should improve so i can remain a fan and not head to different phones.

Hardware support

1. It is unacceptable to have such a limited store. Cases and screen protectors appeared nearly half a year after the release of the phone, and obviously given the fact that this is not a popular phone, it's almost impossible to source items from the internet.
2. Batteries are also something that's missing from the store. It's once again an item you cannot source and the phone seems to have developed some battery issues where the power goes from 10% to 5% in around 3 minutes when i'm just browsing the web and all apps are closed. I will not mention the fact that i cannot have a spare battery if i need to travel. People might argue that this is no longer a feature in most big brands, however to me it is a big advantage and selling point of the phone. Ideas like this were one of the reasons why i chose to support Jolla.
3. Hardware keyboard. I understand that they've never officially confirmed that they were going to develop one, but they would give the community the means to develop it. This is perfectly acceptable, however given that the community is so late (nearly a year after release, and closer to jolla v2 possibly with different design) in developing something that was another huge selling point, i think it wouldn't harm to assign some resources to assist in the development and release of it.
4. TOH colors. On the original demo, there was a rainbow collection of colors for TOH and on the store i can only see 3! Where are the other colors and how can we come across them? It's understandable that there might not be enough demand for them, but it would be great if we could at least arrange a group order for a specific color through the official store.

Software Support

Overall, i'm really happy with the releases and the bug fixes and it seems they put too much effort in this. It would be unreasonable to expect them to code faster or close the issues any sooner and this is something we all knew before we chose to support this project. However:

1. Community releases: You should allow the community developers to put apps on your store sooner especially if they are helping to improve the core usability of the phone. I've been waiting for a release of the Greek UI or even SW keyboard for long, and i have even contacted Jolla directly offering (for free obviously) my time to help them with the translation, but i was turned down and sent to the community. I understand there are unofficial releases, but they are not as easy to install, so it makes me wonder why Jolla doesn't include those to their store and what would it take to do so.

MISC

1. Most countries have at least one provider that's close to the community and also young people. In Greece there are plenty, and in the UK there is GiffGaff which has a similar ideology in terms of appealing to the public for suggestion and ideas. In most cases they hear and they follow what the users say. I'm unsure why Jolla is not included on their phones list and why they haven't got a joined campaign to promote the phone, but i would think it's highly unlikely to have turned Jolla's offer down.
2. Given that i was one of the first to pre-order the phone, i was hoping for something more in terms of support. In china, they got the fancy box, the signed cards and lower price, whereas the people who supported the project from its birth, are now part of the bunch.
3. A few months back, i was in the unfortunate position to drop my phone and smash the gorilla glass. Everything works fine, but the glass is now shattered. Rather than paying half the price of the phone, i would expect to be able to get a glass on its own and fit it myself or at a local shop. I'm certain the glass doesn't cost much, and given that this would be a one-way transfer (Jolla->Me) it would certainly be cheaper than having to send it back for replacement of all the screen components. Even selling the whole screen would cost less, and i'm pretty certain people would rather invalidate their warranty, than end up paying nearly half the price of the phone. Especially given the fact you can get Chinese Android phone with better specs for that much. I read that the price for such a replacement is now around 120EUR but that still excludes P&P and is still quite expensive considering that you can get a gorilla glasse for Sammy for around 20EUR.

Overall, i wouldn't recommend the phone to a friend, but i would certainly recommend Sailfish to someone who would like something different. Unfortunately, for most people, the phone is Sailfish and Sailfish is the phone, and I'm hoping some things will change in the future, or I'll end up turning my back to the project.

In my eyes, when someone asks the community for support, he should offer support back to the community to allow them to advance faster and easier. This is even more important when it comes to hardware where only a few people have the knowledge and fewer have the connections needed to produce something in a factory in China.

When i committed to buy the phone and support their ideology, i hoped that they would be different than the rest in all areas, would provide support and assist the community to advance not only on software (like on N900/N9) but on all aspects of the hardware. Many people would gladly donate their time to help, but it seems that for some reason, they don't want direct support in all areas.

Looking forward for your views, and possibly ideas as to what i can do as an individual (web developer) to further support the project and resolve the support and hardware issues mentioned above.

Thanks for reading

p.s. As mentioned before, I've contacted Jolla directly for some of my problems and i was directed to the community. This is the only official forum, and in my eyes the "official" way to get both the community's and the company's views. The rest of the forums, can still provide superb support, but i doubt they can give insider views to the items above. if you close this topic, i would ask you to put a response as to your reasons so i can hopefully improve my communication in the future.