
Show HN: DoreenMichele/Phone - DoreenMichele
https://github.com/DoreenMichele/Phone
======
DoreenMichele
There's not much there yet. It's a readme file that points to the background
discussion that led to this. The intent is for this to be an open source
project.

I have long fantasized about a project that provides smart phones or tablets
to homeless individuals, but I want the device to come with some kind of
informational or educational component. Ideally, it should be built into the
phone and I had no idea how to do that well. In conversation on HN, someone
suggested a custom Android ROM. This is a new concept for me.

I have already developed informational resources in the form of various blogs,
but I didn't know how to set up a phone so that it points to them. Hopefully a
custom ROM will solve that.

Then people can wipe their old phones, install the custom ROM and give them
away. This repo is intended to provide the technical piece marrying existing
informational resources to the hardware in an elegant fashion so that just
giving a homeless person the phone hooks them up with a means to start solving
their problems.

My initial concept was that someone would need to develop a class or
information packet and that strikes me as inherently problematic. If a phone
can be set up properly such that the phone itself prompts people with URLs and
other info, that is a vastly superior solution. Homeless people have trouble
making it to classes. They lose papers or get them wet. Etc. I think this idea
only really works if the phone itself is the instruction manual for how to
start accessing online resources relevant to the needs of homeless
individuals.

I have a lot to learn about the technical end of things. I would welcome
collaborators.

~~~
mercer
Great idea!

Is there any particular reason why this isn't better solved with just a
regular old app?

Aside from a whole bunch of technical hurdles involved with a custom ROM, it
would probably be easier to. Instead of needing to get this custom ROM on the
phone, it would just be a matter of wiping the thing, resetting to a clean OS,
and installing the app either through the store, or (possible on Android) by
providing a link.

As for the prompts and active 'engagement': I think that's a really, really
good idea. And it could be achieved by simply using the phone's built-in
features (notifications, badges, alerts, etc.).

I'm not sure if I can be too involved when it comes to building the thing, but
I'd love to help out in any way I can.

~~~
DoreenMichele
I'm potentially open to it being an app. At the moment, it's just a readme
file.

Previously, my best idea was to set up a throw away gmail address, activate
the phone using that and then bookmark some websites. I am looking for
something better than that approach.

An app still probably needs to set up your Google account on the phone to
download it. That might be a problem, especially if this catches on and
hundreds (or thousands) of throwaway gmail addresses are needed. I would
rather the recipient of the phone set it up with their own email address.

My understanding is a custom ROM is more built in than that and shouldn't
require setting up an app store account. Correct me if I'm wrong.

~~~
mercer
I think for iOS you do need an email address to set up an account. But
wouldn't an email address be kind of a necessity anyways?

For Android, as far as I know, the app can just be a download from a webpage,
so you'd bypass the need to use the app store, and the need for an email
address.

One way perhaps to solve the iOS issue (assuming you'd even want to do this
for iOS devices) is to do whatever it is that some companies do where apps
come pre-installed for new employees. Not sure how that works and what the
options are, but that could be a way to avoid the apple app store.

~~~
DoreenMichele
My intent is to start with Android, in part because it is familiar, in part
because Android phones can be cheap. I currently have a $30 Android smartphone
with Tracfone service. Apple products tend to be on the spendy side.

