[IAEP] Sugar Labs Business Model.

[Greg Dekoenigsberg]

On Sun, 1 Jun 2008, David Farning wrote:

> I have been watching the videos(1) for this years Linux Collaboration
> Summit.  There are several good discussions on how to build a successful
> business model around Linux and the open source model in general.
>
> Of particular interest is the 'State of Linux Mobile Panel'.  In each 
> case the organizations participating in the panel are trying to develop 
> a mobile platform that sits on a standard Linux stack.  For the most 
> part, the organizations are made of groups of hardware, software, and 
> carriers, who work together to build common platforms on which they can 
> differentiate by hardware or application features.
>
> Sugar Labs is in a very similar position.  There are several hardware
> manufactures that are making education appropriate devices.  This allow
> OLPC to spit the cost of developing sugar across several hardware
> vendors.
>
> Additionally, kids are big business. I went to a Montessori picnic on 
> last Friday.  My nephew gradated form preschool.  Most of the parents 
> expressed interest in investing a few hundred dollars to purchase a 
> computer that had good educational activities.  The main complaints of 
> this group of parents was that the current selection of computer base 
> educational products spent as much time on creating brand loyalty as 
> education and the were oftern just rote memorization tools.
>
> It seems that ISVs working in the educational field would be interested
> in collaborating with Sugar Labs to build a platform on which to run
> their educational applications.
>
> Anyway, take a look at the panels and speeches.
>
> 1 http://www.linuxfoundation.org/events/video/gallery

Educational ISVs seem like a tough sell to me.  That's some long legwork 
for some short dollar -- and it makes much more sense for those folks to 
sell software into the already dominant platform -- Windows.  (And 
increasingly, Mac OS.)  You're got to prove the viability of your platform 
first, before ISVs will be ready to play.

Hardware vendors may be more interesting -- but the trouble is, the 
biggest hardware vendors in the "edutainment" category tend to be fairly 
successful and fairly heavily invested, and are not likely to embrace an 
idea that threatens their own franchise.  Why would Leapfrog or VTech 
embrace a new platform, when they've got so much invested in the success 
of their current platforms?

It looks like the "Linux desktop" and variants are most effective for 
businesses as loss leaders for other products.  If you can leverage the 
value of open source to erode a competitor's advantage, while at the same 
time preserving or enhancing your own advantage, you do it.  Which is 
precisely why the Asus EEE is successful, and is spawning competitors; 
their business success is primarily the success of low-cost hardware plus 
cheap, viable "alternative" software.

Now, Sugar is not just a Linux desktop.  It is laser-focused on a 
kid-friendly UI, and building an ecosystem of educational activities built 
especially for that UI.  (At least, that's my hope.)  Which means that the 
companies interested in investing in Sugar will be companies looking to 
kick incumbents out of the educational gadget business.

So.  Is there a hardware company that is looking to eat into / expand this 
billion-dollar market, that could use open source as a lever to enter this 
marketplace, and would be willing to help fund the development of Sugar as 
their primary platform?  Someone with deep pockets, a substantial R&D 
budget, a taste for risk, and a reason to attack weak players in the 
market with an innovative product?

Maybe we should be talking to the Hasbros of the world.

Some interesting reading about Leapfrog and their recent woes:

http://www.playthings.com/article/CA6441222.html
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2005/11/01/8362840/index.htm

--g