tl;dr
Some reputational gain [for Canonical] is guaranteed.
Bloomberg will portray itself as a "forward-thinking company" and is actually better off not getting the 100 phones.
"To a significant degree, this episode has already succeeded in being disruptive, in proving that smaller players have new ways of tackling the status quo, and in acting as a very direct and powerful piece of market research for Canonical. "<p>Didn't enjoy the article. Basically wraps the actual argument in 1000 words to make it seem smarter.
I am pissed off. I am a life long linux user and Ubuntu has done great work.<p>I am really starting to see Ubuntu used for the desktop in various companies.<p>But nobody gives a shit enough to invest in their technologies. I think edge is a great idea. I will buy (once the phone is available). That is my contribution.
Sale: Global brand exposure, requires an $80,000 down payment, will be refunded in full minus PayPal fees at the end of the campaign.<p>Why aren't more big companies seeing this?
Can someone explain to me why this has to be a hardware project? Why can't they just make this an OS project and load it on whatever high end phone exists in 2014? Hardware falls outside of Canonical's core competency, and as such seems like an inconvenience.
They're going to refund the people who paid a higher price than $695 - isn't that going to lower the funding amount even if it hits the target?