[Arm-netbook] Slowly but surely...

[lkcl luke]

On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 1:29 PM, Alexey Eromenko <al4321 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Well, if the EOMA-A10 will be quick-to-market it has chance.

> If not, then competitors will eat the pie. (like with OpenMoko phones)

 wrong example.  the openmoko failed because they had a monolithic
non-adaptable design, on something that is incredibly complex, was
outside of their experience, and didn't listen to good advice, even
when it was given to them for free. for example, they didn't listen to
advice from experienced RF engineers who *told* them that their layout
would result in feedback from the GSM Radio onto the microphone.

in the end, they spent so long on the design (3 years?) that the parts
they'd chosen went out of production!  and so because it was a
monolithic design, to even change that one component meant a total
redesign of the complex PCB layout.

if instead they'd simply spent £1.6m with the TT Group, they could
have had guaranteed working hardware within under 6 months.

so it is a completely wrong example to compare.  for a start, the CPU
Card does *not* have any RF components on it.


in this case, all that happens is we move to a different CPU.  that's
always been the strategy.  remember: i'm talking to several SoC
companies in order to plan the roadmap ahead for the next 4-5 years,
and the possibility has just come up to work even beyond that
timescale.

 we know that the first CPU Card is going to be the toughest.  getting
parts.  finding suppliers.  getting I/O Boards made.  convincing
clients to use it.  getting the software in place.  modifying the
linux kernel to support EOMA.  it all has to happen at once.

 once even _one_ board, _one_ CPU card, _one_ product is done, any
others are easier.  why? because the design is modular. why does that
matter? because you do *not* need a total redesign of *any* products,
just to put in a new CPU Card.  why? because the software comes on the
CPU Card.

 so even if the EOMA-68 A10 CPU card is late as hell, it *doesn't
matter*.  why? because it will be a critical prototype component
against which all the *other* pieces of the strategy can be made
concrete.

 so do you see, alexey, how completely different this is from the
*one* openmoko product?  do you see how comparing *one* specific
(failed) product to an entire product design *strategy*, of which the
A10 EOMA-68 CPU Card is just one small part, is not comparing
like-with-like?

 l.