Some Reflections On Why I like The Fairphone

Back in November I had a post in which I wrote that my next device would be a Fairphone (which has now started shipping). Not because it has revolutionary new features or because it's especially high end, which it is not, but for a number of other reasons.

First of all, I like the idea that people think about how a smartphone can be produced in a fair(er) way for the people and the environment. Also, I like the fact that it is done by a small company and that they are very open about the way the phone is designed and produced. I can identify with their ideas and their motives and that's another important thing that has been missing for me ever since Nokia threw itself (or was thrown?) into Microsoft's grip of death.

Before continuing on the Fairphone, a quick look back to former times: Back in the 2006+ timeframe I could identify with Nokia devices because it was pretty much 'the' company at the time for me that innovated the most around bringing the Internet to mobile devices. At the time, social media was also a new concept and to me their approach appeared to be honest. Sure it was driven by a marketing department but the whole thing was so novel that it was still possible to get engaged with the people there. This interaction got lost on both sides over time as the original people left and as things just became too main stream.

These days, the Internet on mobile devices has gone mainstream so the issue is solved. Sure, there is still innovation but by and large the Internet is mobile now. I'm not mainstream and so wasn't Nokia when they pushed the idea of Internet on mobile so it's difficult for me to identify with large and anonymous corporations spitting out devices in the tens of millions today.

With the Fairphone, to come back on topic, it's different. The company has faces and although I only know all of them but one from their website it's a much more personal approach. Also, I'm happy that I could contribute a bit to the project, by paying up front in November for one thing and having been part of the testing and bug fixing effort for another.

And last but not least the Fairphone, on the technology side, has some features I don't get in any other device in that combination such as dual-SIM capability in combination with a good screen resolution, fast processor and an almost stock Android with root rights so I can tame what Google is doing. I haven't tried yet but I hope this still works.

Thanks for that, Fairphone, I'm sure it will become even more exciting as the story continues.