[Gta04-owner] Status GTA04 GroupTour

[Xavi Drudis Ferran]

On Fri 30/12/11 10:15 , Timo Jyrinki <timo.jyrinki at gmail.com> wrote:
 
> Both of these groups, I think, have the majority of currently
> available GTA02:s ie. the target group for GTA04 buyers, but the
> devices are possibly sleeping in the drawers while a lot of other cool
> hacker devices are out there. GTA04 is just one another option, and it
> has the minus side of not being the coolest gadget of 2012, unless you
> are interested in precisely 100% free software phone, while the GTA02
> interest group who also ended up buying GTA02 was larger. The GTA02
> case was also kind of cool or at least ok in 2008, but nowadays to
> make similar "wow" effect you'd need GTA04 to be not just an expensive
> motherboard upgrade to an used and old pretty bulky external case from
> 2008.
>

Well, I agree with what you say in general, but I also think we should set
realistic goals. If someone comes up with a stylish case for GTA04 much 
the better, but maybe we can live with less than this ideal for the time being. 
We're only trying to get 350 subscribers to the group tour, not yet conquering the 
world. 
 
> And as mentioned, still a few people also have FreeRunner as a
> functional, primary phone, and they can't risk it. I have two
> FreeRunners and also N9 so I could "risk" mine and ordered a piece of
> GTA04 group order of course. Also notable is that I didn't even
> consider doing the motherboard upgrade myself, but ordered the service
> from Golden Delicious.
>

I am so useless at handicrafts that I completely understand this risky feeling. 
The problem is that 350 units is too many for just the more risk taking enterpreneurs
and  too few to set up a really distributed chain of local refurbishers (I'm not
talking a franchise, but in order to have someone help you at your local 
hackerspace it may be useful if people have done it before, so you really want
to have maybe 1000 or 2000 units around the world). In the meantime the only
option I see is sending the phone to GD (or any other service that springs up) 
to have the board changed. This means freight costs and delays (time without 
either GTA02 o GTA04). 

It just occurred to me that maybe GD can offer to buy back your GTA02 if you buy 
a complete GTA04 from stock. So you pay 750 EUR in advance, get your GTA04
and once you have it working, you send your GTA02 and get some of that money 
back when GD receives it and tests it. GD spends some money buying the GTA02 
but it comes from the complete GTA04 already sold, and keeps the possibility of 
selling a new complete GTA04 from the bought GTA02. 

The question is for how much would 
people sell their old GTA02 ? How many complete GTA04 can still be sold ? 
The 750 EUR does not seem to include the case, battery, antennas, etc. (at least if you add GTA04 board 
from stock to LCD and service you reach the complete GTA04 price very soon). So 
The already highish price for a complete GTA04 should be increased by the 
cost of the GTA02... 

The other options I can see leave the GTA02 owners without phone for some 
time before getting the new GTA04. 

Which leads us to the persitent problem of producing new cases (or adapters
for existing cases). Maybe we can break the problem in two and try to find kits 
for the missing components (antenna, etc.) on one hand and desigining a 3D 
printable case on the other.