Crypto lush HTC claims gizmo will be an 'agent of decentralization'
Strategy BoutiqueWe'll be back with the reading comprehension and retention test later on.
So it wasn't a joke. HTC today vowed to launch its "Blockchain Phone", which it calls an "agent of decentralization".
HTC confirmed overnight that the Exodus smartphone will ship in its third quarter – meaning some time before the end of September – without releasing specifications. Or even what advantages it promises for the owner.
It's the brainchild of VC Phil Chen, who as well as managing Li Ka-shing's money at Horizons Ventures*, has returned to mastermind the initiative at HTC, rejoicing in the job title "Decentralized Chief Officer". HTC is giddy about the possibilities of putting a crypto wallet in a mobe, and makes an impressive bid to walk off with the Strategy Boutique trophy 2018. The aspirational statements leap out at us like salmon trying to get home.
"This is just the start of HTC helping to combat the commoditization of humanity," the press release tells us. Like a teenage libertarian having his first few bottles of Thunderbird, HTC discovers that all thoughts collide.
"Context and meaning are being destroyed by copyright and privacy laws that were written for a bygone era," an assertion that sadly isn't supported, or returned to. Yet at the same time HTC purports to want to help creators, by staging "a platform and distribution channel for creatives who make unique digital goods".
"We understand the potential of digital scarcity and uniqueness. With Exodus, HTC aims to be a general blockchain asset marketplace," said Chen. "We believe there is a paradigm shift and the pendulum is swinging back to ownership and the value of content."...MORE
