[Arm-netbook] 12in laptop story

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 9:52 PM, Alejandro Mery <amery at geeks.cl> wrote:

> Using pandaboard's components as base for a netbook can be indeed a wise idea

 the problem with the pandaboard - actually with the OMAP4440 - is
that it is classified as a "mass-produced" item.  also, it is
export-restricted.  as in: a crypto-grade military munitions export
license is required in order to ship an OMAP4440 CPU to anywhere other
than Europe or the USA.

 so not only can you not get the CPU except in volumes of 100,000 or
more (*other* than in the form of the pandaboard) but also you cannot
utilise lower-cost design houses in asia to do the design work!  end
result is that you have a much higher-cost product with a much higher
development cost.

 remember that TI's main customer is the military (radar, sonar) which
makes up 90% of its revenue, so its prices and expectations for the
consumer arena are somewhat, um... unrealistic?  bless 'em though,
their free software support is beyond a shadow of doubt the absolute
best of any CPU i've looked at.  by far and above.

l.