While I understand the points of having it made in Europe, etc… what exactly is supposed to be “ethical” about components coming from the USA, the country that is responsible for the vast majority of armed conflicts, war and countries driven into poverty all over the globe in the last 70 years.
The idea of your phone is absolutley stunning dont get me wrong but its just too expensive and I know the majority of comments before the lunch on the kickstarter were the same. You almost got your backing and I am really happy for you that you do dont get me wrong. As started before your project is awesome, just too expensive.
I think the price is right on. Remember this is not a mass produced product using the same parts as every other manufcaturer. This is prioirity hardware, with signed updates and traceability of every component. Everything is customised. What is the value of quality time offline, what is the value of remaining connected in the right way, how much do you charge for your health for both your eyes and radiation levels. The fact that less than an hour after you have gone live you have achieved your target tells me it is not overproiced. It is well made, well designed, well thought out and personal. Great job. Remember this is not tied to contract and is completely global for coverage. Don’t compare it to lesser feature phones.
Kamil, it hurts to read such words. It’s a premium product with high-quality components - you can’t win with the economic laws. We are working hard to make the most out of the resources we have, to deliver the best value for our customers.
I’m not surprised by the price - it’s about what I expected. A very large percentage of phones sold are smartphones, and even the “basic” phones most manufacturers put out are still cluttered with features like cameras etc… Right now, simplicity is seen as a niche market, so it’s not shocking that a manufacturer is asking niche market prices.
I’d love to see cheap basic phones make a comeback, and I hope that the tremendous response to this Kickstarter in the first day is a step toward making that happen. In the meantime, I’m willing to shell out for a phone that fits my needs, though I regret that it’s still out of reach for many.
Obviously no one here that has price issues know about this market. the only other 2 true competitors to this phone have charged nearly the same, the punkt mp02 and the light phone 2 which are both $350+.
the light phone 2 doesn’t align with the purpose of mudita, and is a buggy phone to boot. The punkt phone however does align with the purpose, but is so insanely buggy it hardly works.
If the pure does what they are aiming for and I don’t have to buy a new phone in 2 years because it starts breaking down (hello smart phones that average 400-500 bucks now), then this is worth the investment.
this is totally small production compared to other phones where hundreds of thousands are produced.
Therefore, the price does not scare me and thank you for the 40% off!!
Thank you @joel, you’re right, our aim is that people won’t have to keep replacing their phones all the time. Parts are replaceable and can be updated when necessary! We will also have updates for languages etc. via the desktop app which is something a lot of feature phones don’t have! There’s a list of suppliers here too, which might help people who are wondering where our costs are going: Sustainable harvested materials?
It’s such a hard discussion. No price is ever really going to be satisfactory for everyone. The problem is that to make the phone you want, where you want to make it, with the materials you want to use it’s going to be expensive. To create a business where none existed before and go up against gigantic companies that have been doing this for decades is never going to be cheap. You’ll be beaten on economy of scale every time not to mention the bigger companies more unethical approach to sourcing material and manufacturing the product.
This is the beginning and I’m sure the company will jump at the opportunity to make a more affordable product if this phone works and changes lives the way they hope it will.
To the critics, think how much you spend on "smart"phones that have zero battery life (so you have to buy an external battery to carry around with you), bloatware (that tracks you and makes the phones slow), bugs (in all parts of the OS), fragile hardware (that requires you to buy a case to put the phone in), and the whole thing ultimately lasts about 2 years before it blows up. Once you’ve considered that also consider that this is the beginning, they’re asking for money to grow a new business, to hopefully create a product that people will want. Possibly to even change the way we interact with our devices (which are actually changing our fundamental brain structure). The alternatives Punkt and Light Phone are more expensive and one of them isn’t even really a phone, just a tethered speaker and screen.
I’ve been pondering why no one has released a solid phone with an e-ink screen for years. I’ve also been using a brick Nokia for the past 10 years but it will be redundant next year when my country turns off the 3G network. I’m hoping this phone will give me exactly what I need. I will pay the price and if it is as good as it looks then it will be a solid investment. Time will tell. That’s the difference between crowd funding and buying a phone retail. Stick to your guns!
if shenzen parts are good enough for apple they are good enough for anyone.
Also just because the phones have parts coming from the US doesnt mean diddly, they were probably processed by prison labor to cut costs, like the furniture industry has done for decades.
Look, I dont care if these things are gold plated, they do not warrant these prices, period.
If you don’t care, why did you take the time to leave that comment?
People who genuinely don’t care, don’t spent time typing about things they don’t care about, especially not online. Therefore, it’s clear that you do care. You care enough to come here and tell us how much you care. What do you want us to say? We did our best, we’re a small team, sorry the phone price doesn’t meet your expectations but we’re not changing it.
From the beginning our goal was to use the most sustainable options available. Mudita Pure was designed, developed and manufactured in Europe with more than half of the components coming from the US. We produced as much of the phone as possible locally, including the casing and final assembly. We hand picked every single component and have developed a proprietary operating system to ensure the best experience.
There is a topic here which might help to understand why our price is what it is. We hope we will be able to inspire you to spend more time offline, even without Mudita Pure.
if you all cancelled your data plans, you’d have enough money to buy 2 of these by the time its released, and would be a great productive start to transitioning off smart phones
With all due respect I think you’re very very wrong. The time and efforts they are taking to ensure low SAR, their OWN operating system (that won’t sell your information because they have more values than what seems to be the present day America I live in) and the implementation of reintroducing or even initially introducing a large population of people to meditation (optimal for self growth, reflection, awareness and mindfulness). I am very glad I backed them early for the discount (because who doesn’t like saving money) but I support the impact this is going to make on the people that are willing to live their daily lives with more intent and less dopamine addicted relationships with their smartphones. I see where you’re coming from, but I hope you’ll see the intellect, effort, time and dedication and understand that the price of any company’s first product is never going to be perfect.
First I want to thank this team for creating something magnificent! Reading these posts is a little disheartening but indicative to the general consumer, “Give me what I want and give it to me NOW!” reminds me of that little girl in that Willie Wonka movie. Look creating something that is not mainstream and isn’t a piece of junk takes time and money. Anything innovative cost more to create and more to purchase in the beginning. This is basic economics. I look at this phone as an investment in myself, my health and environment. If others don’t see it that way I’m not sure why they are interested in this phone? The powers that be don’t have the power to change the industry, WE do! We change an unhealthy industry by supporting good ones, we speak with our wallets. Let’s get behind a great product. I’m sure there are a few that spend $5-6 a day on coffee? Give up drive through coffee and a night out and by distribution time you will have your money. Christmas is coming up many could ask for cash to go towards your new phone. Can’t wait to get my Mudita!
Before the Kickstarter campaign began, I imagined the price would be higher. Remember a few years ago when they did the Beats headphones teardown and people were having a bit of a fit over the true cost of a product? That is a nice example of cost vs price.
The cost of individual components of an individual will never reflect the true cost. Business may seem unethical to many of us on occasion but when you think about design costs (which is usually around 50% of the price) and all of the people involved in the supply chain, especially when a company makes an effort to be sustainable and ethical. Standard business practice is to multiply the cost of the product by 8 or 10 in order to account for every part of the supply chain, R&D, marketing, hosting.
So, Beats headphones cost $18 to make but sell for $200. I was expecting a $400 price for the Pure since so much of it is designed and made in-house. I do wish it were a little less expensive since it is still out of my price range.
@anon32618512 For what my $0.02 is worth, I think the price is fine. It’s more than a typical ‘feature phone’, but I really like the focus on getting out of the Google/Apple ecosystem, out of the attention economy, and a focus on health and wellness. For me, that’s worth the cost - and I’m happy to pay it to support businesses like yours!
