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Comment by amartya916 | Hacker News Reader

Looking at this post as well as the Firefox OS phone ($33 one) on HN today, I was wondering whether it makes sense for Amazon to release an FFOS device with Amazon's product's on centre stage (Prime video, Amazon store (not the Amazon app store), Kindle etc.). If they came out with a phone that had specs comparable to the Flame (or slightly better) and price it competitively($175ish), both companies can do well.

If the 2-year development timeframe is correct, one can see how Amazon couldn't even have thought of FFOS as an alternative, but now, FFOS is slowly but surely getting there. If Amazon uses it's engineering chops to advance FFOS – and I am sure that a lot of developers at Amazon will be happy to contribute to FFOS too – perhaps they could compete with Android and iOS?

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The reality is that customers just don't want to use Firefox OS. Even with Amazon's support, it would still be very inferior in many ways to Android and iOS, and even to some of the other less-popular mobile OSes that are already out there.

Given that Firefox OS apps written in HTML5, CSS and JavaScript should run just as well on Android and iOS, anyone actually wanting to use such apps is better off just getting an Android or an iOS device. That way they can run the Firefox OS apps, as well as all of the other apps that Android or iOS support.

The reality is that for some reason you're a Firefox OS hater. I don't think anyone forces you to use it you know...

But more people chose Firefox OS than Amazon so far.

More people bought 1958 Edsels than 1958 Volkswagen Beetles too, that doesn't make the Edsel a better car than the Beetle. Popularity is not the same thing as value.

Emotion is totally irrelevant here. I don't "hate" Firefox OS, nor do I "like" Firefox OS.

It's just a tool, so I give it an objective, unemotional analysis. That analysis shows that it lacks the features and functionality that are needed for it to be a useful tool for the vast, vast majority of users.

Most people use a phone for practical reasons, not ideological ones. They don't care how "open" it may be if it doesn't run the apps they need or want to use. Firefox OS will have no chance of succeeding in the long run as long as it continues to provide a sub-par user experience.

> The reality is that customers just don't want to use Firefox OS.

Is a Firefox OS device on sale in any US retail store? I've never even talked with another person that had heard of Firefox OS. How could you possibly know that customers don't want it?

    I've never even talked with another
    person that had heard of Firefox OS.
    How could you possibly know that
    customers don't want it?

I could pick anyone who didn't have the slightest clue what FLOSS means, besides something they should do at least once a day, and ask them about a FFOS phone. Here's how that conversation would go down:

Me: Hey, did you know you can get a smartphone for $33?

Them: Cool! That sounds great, and $66 cheaper than my iPhone.

Me: Yeah, that would totally pay for 3 weeks of your cell phone bill.

Them: Sounds good, so I can get Instagram on it, right?

Me: Yep, except you won't be able to post photos.

Them: Oh. How about Flappy Bird.

Me: Nope, sorry.

Them: Darn, but that's ok. Too addictive. How about Uber, Whatsapp, and Facebook?

Me: Totally! Mobile web all the way, baby! HTML 5!

Them: Awesome!

<2 Weeks Pass>

Them: I went back to my iPhone. Those mobile websites suck.

You might want to explain the true cost of an iPhone to them.

T-Mobile's doing a great job of that. Or are you talking about "Ring 0 freedoms"?

Suggesting that an iPhone costs $99 when it costs $99 plus monthly contract makes the comparison less than useful.

You obviously wouldn't be having that conversation with me. You might want to consider that others might not use a phone the same way you do. ("Anyone" is a pretty bold claim.)

Though I would really love it if you could show me where to get a $99 iPhone.

I think he meant that non-tech guy X considers his generation old, contract based $99 iPhone as costing $99 period.

I realize that, but there are a lot of people out there that are smart enough to take the monthly cost of the contract into account, however you want to describe them. I do a lot of programming, but am a "non-tech" guy myself.

Unfortunately there isnt much to be had FLOSS-wise over android with FX-os as they use the same shitty closed source driver model as android.

I dont know why anyone would want these phones.

Amazon investing into the Firefox OS would be super beneficial for both companies long term. With AWS, Amazon is already powering a big chunk of the web so supporting Firefox /OS and help it become the best mobile web client makes sense and will make a ton of developers happy, which is all they need to do for now if they want a larger piece of the mobile market.

And you know, makes sense branding-wise. A Fire phone runs Firefox!

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