Three years in, keyboard-equipped Astro Slide is a dead end
- G
- GotItRecently
- yuN
- 08 Feb 2023
GotItRecently, 07 Feb 2023I got mine recently in the UK. The build quality is cheap w... moreJust an update regarding charging. There are actually two USB-C ports on the device - one on the top, one on the bottom. The top one doesn't work for charging but the bottom one does.
- T
- Tom D
- 4k@
- 08 Feb 2023
blue, 06 Feb 20236400 reasons why this was a dead end. If there were 640 000... morethats BS. There is a huge market share for physical keyboards. There were just 6400 people who were foolish enough to risk $800 on an empty promise. But Im sure there are millions and millions of people that want the keyboard. PEople stopped using the keyboard only because the Manufacturers took them away, and nothiing the users could do about it. We werent given a choice. Mobile phones are now a painful experience to use, because the keyboards are gone. Not a single keyboard phone project failed due to demand and adoption. The projects failed due to inavailabilty of product components. And I wouldnt be surprised if the competitors had something to do with that.
- ?
- Anonymous
- gqb
- 08 Feb 2023
hiool, 07 Feb 2023A great looking phone. But honestly, who needs a phone with... moreI definitely do. I do a lot of office work on my phone, so a physical keyboard is more than necessary.
- EskeRahn
- n4L
- 08 Feb 2023
Anonymous, 07 Feb 2023But those people have been supported by millions of other i... moreNice try, but that does not fix the failing numbers 'logic'.
That any group is a minority does not make it ignorable, no matter what the majority feel about it.
(To take it to the extreme apply this numbers 'logic' on earthquake victims or terrorist)
The idea that any device that works for the wast majority will work for everyone sounds a bit like Mao that wanted to dress people in the same clothes....
Individual people, individual preferences and usage patterns, and thus individual needs and wishes. It is really as simple as that.
Whether a segment is too small to make a sufficient profit on serving it, is a totally different matter.
And that is for those that start a project to decide if they want to give it a try or not.
And here crowfunding comes in really handy, to see if they can find enough people to finance some vision.
And sure these niche-devices (generally) have a very small economical base - and that is also why it is pretty ridiculous when some people compare the prices/specs/capabilities/service/marketing with devices selling in millions (if not billions).
We that prefer keyboard phones, have to accept that we are a dwindling minority, and thus have to pay a high price, compared to what a similar speced dumb slab would cost, if we would let do with their fake keyboards. And we also have to do a lot of other compromises, e.g. the devices are heavier and more clumsy, not to mention unpolished software/UX. For some the pros of a real keyboard outweighs the cons, for the majority it does not.
To each their own.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 4NG
- 07 Feb 2023
EskeRahn, 06 Feb 2023By that 'logic' there are no presidents, no royal... moreBut those people have been supported by millions of other individuals. So they are still the representative of the millions behind them. People who supported them, voted for them, worked to help them, etc... Your comparison makes no sense and seems to be deliberately avoiding the point. If a presidential candidate only had 6400 people who voted for them, they wouldn't and shouldn't be president. Simple as that. Make sense now?
- A
- Anonymous
- InE
- 07 Feb 2023
EskeRahn, 06 Feb 2023Actually a bit worse than "ran out". They had pai... moreUm...Slide. Astro Slide. I prefer to just call it the Astro, for obvious reasons...
- ?
- Anonymous
- InE
- 07 Feb 2023
Anonymous, 06 Feb 2023at the moment you could just buy a samsung tab s7 with book... moreGood luck thumb-typing while walking with that...
- ?
- Anonymous
- InE
- 07 Feb 2023
hiool, 07 Feb 2023A great looking phone. But honestly, who needs a phone with... moreHonestly, I do. And so do a lot of other people.
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- Ferdinand Delasoie
- n74
- 07 Feb 2023
It seems to be unknown to both the writer and most commenters that Planet Computers actually already delivered two earlier devices, namely the Gemini (2018) and the Cosmo (2019-2020). They both suffered delays, but those were reasonable (a few months). So the first 6000 that made the contribution did so, because Planet was known to deliver. And then Planet massively scr?wed up. Covid was trouble. The fact that their supplier went bankrupt was unforeseen trouble. But what is unforgiveable is the extremely bad communication that Planet Computers delivers. Indeed, childish updates. No details whatsoever. No planning or schedule. And yeah... IF my phone (ordered in May 2020) will be delivered it will be vintage straight from the box.
- G
- GotItRecently
- yuN
- 07 Feb 2023
I got mine recently in the UK. The build quality is cheap where the "Rock Up" slide is concerned. It's heavy and feels like two phones stuck together - though of course the bottom part is not a phone but the keyboard. The keyboard is slightly awkward in that it's too big for thumbs but too small for touch typing. It tells me that the software is up-to-date - running Android 11 from 5 January 2022. Also, it doesn't seem to charge... or if it is charging it doesn't indicate as such.
- h
- hiool
- XDv
- 07 Feb 2023
A great looking phone. But honestly, who needs a phone with a physical keyboard?
- Solun1
- 3DH
- 07 Feb 2023
Anonymous, 06 Feb 2023Auto-correct doesn't work with numbers. Only someone w... moreI don't think you need auto-correct for numbers, if you want to say number 5, you just touch number 5 :D
- K
- KP
- jZ$
- 07 Feb 2023
I have it; it's fine. I paid an earlybird price, and got a serviceable phone for that price. Wish I had it sooner.
The software has some issues, but it runs virtualization just fine. I haven't yet tried with Linux, but have booted a few distros of Windows on it. Kali linux is of course what I have in mind - reading about people's experience with Linux on other PC devices, I won't hold my breath for them to release an Ubuntu image.
It feels a bit fragile, so I've been working on custom cases to protect it.
- b
- blue
- SXw
- 07 Feb 2023
Anonymous, 07 Feb 2023It is like what RTU said once: "It is better to under ... moreNot enough...
- ?
- Anonymous
- KZK
- 07 Feb 2023
YUKI93, 06 Feb 2023I am still truly in love with this idea since it gives me t... moreAnd then there's the matter of GNU Linux dual boot support. This phone's predecessor, the Gemini PDA and Cosmo Communicator, has such capability. But when this phone was launched, Planet Computers haven't disclosed anything about it.
I agree about having Snapdragon chipset. While Mediatek chipset are generally cheaper than Qualcomm equivalent, Snapdragon chipset always have better long-term support.
- ?
- Anonymous
- JcU
- 07 Feb 2023
It is like what RTU said once: "It is better to under promise and over deliver than over promise and under deliver".
With the few supporters they had, it was not a good idea to over promise then deliver a degarded phone with delivery dates that kept getting pushed. I wonder how many customers they lost because of that.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 4NG
- 06 Feb 2023
Difference, 06 Feb 2023What if someone said it's senseless to support you?It would mean that what I'm currently doing is senseless and it does not deserve support. It would be up to ME to rethink things at that point and not for others to continue supporting me through a senseless endeavor.
- EskeRahn
- n4L
- 06 Feb 2023
Anonymous, 06 Feb 20236400 divided by 8 billion = 0.0000008, if you round that to... moreBy that 'logic' there are no presidents, no royalty, no world champions... et cetera
- b
- blue
- SXw
- 06 Feb 2023
PEOPLE, 06 Feb 2023Nobody cares anymore? 6400 people is nobody?Yes, it is. Considering the fact that hundreds of millions phones are sold each year, 6,5 thousand is literally nobody. If you are on of those who paid for this crap, too bad, but as you can see, the world does not care.
- b
- blue
- SXw
- 06 Feb 2023
Anonymous, 06 Feb 2023Well said. There are 8 billion people on this planet and if... moreAs you can see, it is not allowed to use logic here. Only pure fanatism for "technology". No matter how useless it is.