[Arm-netbook] CC3000 Wi-Fi for MCU

[lkcl luke]

On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 11:44 AM, Gordan Bobic <gordan at bobich.net> wrote:

> IMO, a product is better than no product, a product that works is better
> than a product that doesn't, and a product that is more open is better
> than a product that is less open. Sacrificing the existance of a product
> just because it wouldn't be as open as you like sounds like cutting off
> your nose to spite your face.

 gordan - with a modular architecture it is possible to be all things
to all people.  and, surprisingly, not at a premium either.  the main
motherboard can be a 2-layer board, which is significantly cheaper
than if you were forced to make the entire PCB 6 to 10 layers.

 my friend worked for LSI Logic and then for samsung.  samsung's
product strategy was very simple: it had to be a 2-layer board, and
that was the end of it.  the cost of having anything else in a product
that is sold in volumes of 100 million units was simply too much.

 now, whilst the chances of ramping up to 100 million unit sales per
year in the next few months is somewhat ... huh.... ambitious shall we
say, i think it reasonable to learn from their success and to keep
costs down by using 2-layer motherboards.... *and* using modular
components for things like the CPU, the WIFI, the DVB-T, the 3G and so
on.

 l.