Openmoko trainwreck (I’d rather use my old Nokia 2100)

I had an interesting discussion with a friend yesterday about mobile phones and he seemed to enjoy dissing me (in a playful way) for using an iPhone (hacked) and said I should take a look at the FreeRunner and even pointed me to the FSF piece on why one should avoid the iPhone. Now I’ve heard of the FreeRunner and the Openmoko and even took an interest over the said project (I am subscribed to a number of development lists). Now I must admit I got excited before when it came out and even considered on getting a development kit, but because of the delays and the seemingly cloudy road map of the said project, the momentum just waned for me and decided to go elsewhere. Still not convinced? Try watching this video by Dave Fayram.

So this is the phone the FSF wants me to use because my current one restricts my freedom. Now let’s imagine (in an Orwellian way)  if the FreeRunner is the gold standard for mobile phones rather than the iPhone (I consider it the gold standard of the moment because of the copycats coming out). And watch the video again. Do you like what you see? If that’s the case, I’d rather just go back to using my old Nokia 2100 (which I unlocked myself) and wait for an Android handset or a handset running the upcoming open source offering by the Symbian Foundation.