I've been using WordPress for 4 years with good scaling and no downtime. It's only "slow as hell" if you don't actually know WordPress (which most WordPress users don't). ;)
I think it's because they are perceived to be focused on marketing, keeping special interest groups happy at the expense of others, and patent trolling and not so much on creating truly good products, IHMO. I can't objectively measure how much of that perception is actually true, but their subscription model for Java, their systemic underpayment of their women employees, and their frivolous lawsuit against Google didn't help.
That looks over engineered and still not as simple as it could be. Think of those cell phones in the 90s that had a single line (or two) of spaces for text, and they had no features but calling and texting. That's perfect, it has literally already been invented, it just needs to be resold, and perhaps put in a pretty package again, but not like this. Not like this.
Is it? I'm a LP2 backer, and agree with you that I want a phone that does not have a browser, or an App Store, or anything like that; however, I do believe that the small set of tools LP2 is planning on coming with (simple directions, ride sharing, alarm, in particular) are pretty much no-downside.
What bothers you about features like these? Or is it the pricetag?
It's self sufficiency I want for our family, and those features discourage that. My kids' schools don't teach them many things anymore, including reading an analog clock. I'd rather my children know how to buy a map at a gas station and read it to get where they want to go, or do most simple math in their head instead of using a calculator. Alarms are built into most clocks made today, even (perfectly good) ones you can buy for $3 at a thrift store, and most microwaves have timer features. Using an app for ride sharing discourages phone (or text) conversations that are naturally able to lead to many unexpected places.
At the end of the day, I look at it this way: I'm able to live a full and happy life without a smart phone, the only thing I'm missing is the ability to call someone. That's where a phone comes in handy.
People will hate when you try to go against the flow, but it's a good path. We've recently cut pretty much all video games and television, and our family is better for it.
Protip: Some people will feel judged by you simply because you don't do certain things. If you want to avoid awkward conversations, you might not want to bring up that you don't have a TV. It's stupid but some people get seriously weird over it.
