It's been around two years since you guys helped me renew my mobile device. A campaign I posted here.
Since then, a lot has happened. Like I mentioned before, my smartphone has always been my main audiovisual production tool, since things like Go Pro cameras and those more "professional" tools are expensive and a little harder to buy and maintain in Venezuela. With my then new phone I created plenty of content for Free2Z, Zechub and even my personal projects. It was my main camera and, sometimes, even my audio recording device.
It also helped me connect with people in the Zcash ecosystem and family and friends in general.
But after two years, its battery started to fail, and I knew what came next. The phone started failing until it eventually died on me. I sent it to repair, exactly 29 nine days ago, spending $40 dollars to keep it working ("a lot" of money for a middle class person in my country) but yesterday, it just died again.
At the shop they said it "maybe had something to do with a faulty battery" and, even thought they were the ones who sold me the battery, they said there's nothing I can do... I have to pay another $40 to "see if I'm lucky this time". With its death, some of my personal projects, and even a new one I had just started on Free2z, are in hiatus again.
And I promise I tried to buy a new device by myself, but now I have a small business to keep running, a house in the process of construction and christmas present also got in the way. So, even thought I tried, the truth is I can't afford to buy another phone and, doing so by my own means would take about three to four months.
So here I am again, asking for your help, to see if I can buy a new mid range device that helps me keep creating the content I love to create.
I would need to raise around $400 ~ $500 to buy a new device with enough recording and processing quality to keep creating content. As you can see I'm not asking for a flagship device, I need just enough to keep working until I can, hopefully, buy a proper camera next year.
As usual, plenty of the useful life time of such device would be dedicated to collaborate in any way I can with the Zcash ecosystem, with audiovisual material, community support and participating in community calls.
You can see most of the content I created with the current device in Zechub's Youtube channel and Instagram profile, but there's also Free2z related content in my tiktok account.
Also, you can check my own Youtube channel, my free2z page and my personal website to see the rest of the content I create. Wherever you see a photo or video captured by me, or you can hear my voice, my phone was involved in recording and, of course, posting.
Last but not least, with a new device I plan to finally kickstart the Berry-Km page, which sadly couldn't really start properly because my phone stopped working.
Why am I asking for a little more this time?
Sadly, in my economy, prices grow high, instead of low, over time, so a mid range phone price would remain high or even get higher as time passes. Also, I got some semi-professional recording accesories thought specially for smartphones, and cheaper phones are not fully compatible with those anymore (Infinix phones won't let you use an external mic with the camera, for example). Finally, some of my new projects, like Berry-km, would benefit from some of the features present in more expensive camera phones, like Optical Image Stabilization and nightlight recording.
That's the reason why I ask for a little more this year, still trying to remain in the mid range window. Plus, some of my projects are finally starting to earn me some money, so a new, better recording device could finally get me on track to eventually being able to afford new gear exclusively with my content channels.
What am I aiming for?
My goal is to buy a Samsung Galaxy A55 5g. The brand also pushed up the price range a bit, but I learned that famous brands receive better support in my country than others like Infinix or Tecno, also, this brand updates its phones for years, which others don't do. So the device would stay current for longer.
Of course, that's my goal, but I can adapt acording to the possibilities. Next in line would be a Galaxy A35 or an Infinix Note 40 Pro.
Hope I can count on you, and I promise I'll do my best to keep delivering content to Zechub, the Zcash ecosystem and Free2z with as much quality and frequency as I possibly can with this new device.