The cited article is an intriguing
one, as it addresses Mozilla’s mission to release a mobile operating system for
smartphones, which it will market to the developing world.
Apple and Google phones are too
pricy for these technologically evolving populations, resulting in a tantalizingly
uncrowded market.
Mozilla hopes to price its
Firefox models between $100 and $115, or “one-third to one-sixth the cost of
the competition.”
In terms of the phones’
capabilities, they will offer “the middle of the high end of the feature set,”
boasting touch screens, cameras, accelerometers, and Firefox browsers.
Though China advertises cheaper
smartphones in the developing world, their $70 models offer miniscule screens
and outdated software, marking them as inferior products.
Though my face adopts an
unattractive soured expression when I think of the looming contamination of
beautiful cultures by the corrosive, pernicious, homogenizing effects of
technology, I cannot deny the brilliance of Mozilla’s plan. Indeed, marketing smartphones to struggling
individuals who covet modernity and global significance constitutes a tactical
triumph.
Because Mozilla cannot advance a
product that rivals those of Apple and Google, it is logical for the company to
pursue a business model that does not crave technological excellence, but
instead seeks impressively widespread distribution. Indeed, Mozilla realizes that Apple and Google
are inaccessible to developing populations and chooses to market to those
nations.
Two things I will never cease to
appreciate are simplicity and cleverness.
Kudos to Mozilla for cultivating a plan that boasts both.
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