[Arm-netbook] Crowd Sourcing Proposal

[Gordan Bobic]

On 10/11/2012 01:15 PM, luke.leighton wrote:
> On Thu, Oct 11, 2012 at 10:16 AM, Gordan Bobic<gordan at bobich.net>  wrote:
>> On 10/10/2012 06:21 PM, Alejandro Mery wrote:
>>> On 10/10/12 19:11, luke.leighton wrote:
>>>> On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 2:57 PM, Peter Steenbergen
>>>> <p.steenbergen at j1nx.nl>   wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>     so by buying this CPU Card - even if it's more expensive in lower
>>>>>> volumes at the moment - you're helping to support us in our goal of
>>>>>> serving millions of people, bringing them lower-cost flexible
>>>>>> computing.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     you see the difference?  hmm, i should point that out on the page,
>>>>>> shouldn't i.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Luke,
>>>>>
>>>>> Alejandro sees it. I see it, but .......
>>>>>
>>>>> The mass does not see it, nor do they care. And if you want to have a
>>>>> successful crowd funding you need to aim for the masses, NOT us developers.
>>>>
>>>>     well... is that really true?  there's (at least) 3 groups here.
>>>> developers (350 people on arm-netbook), intelligent-eco-conscious
>>>> people (N people), and "everyone else" (i hesitate to use "the
>>>> masses").
>>>
>>> even if you focus in developers and so called intelligent-eco-conscious
>>> people you need to make an attractive proposal for something that can be
>>> used from the start for something beside collecting dust.
>>
>> +1
>>
>> This is an important point. The vast majority of developers don't
>> develop for the sake of development - they develop because they need
>> something done.
>>
>> An EOMA module on it's own isn't particularly useful without an actual
>> useful chassis to plug it into. Without at least one chassis type being
>> readily available you don't actually have a product - you have a
>> _component_.
>
>   the micro engineering board is easy to get done, and would likely be
> saleable for $10.   the mini engineering board, having things like an
> LVDS converter IC, WIFI module, USB Hub and so on starts to get up to
> $20 on its own, and, apart from the LVDS converter IC, really isn't
> anything more than what someone can achieve with an off-the-shelf USB
> hub and off-the-shelf retail WIFI USB dongle.
>
> thoughts?

How about a nice little box that makes it connect to an Atrix Mk1 
lapdock? That way you can get a lapdock for ~$70 and have a nice modular 
laptop that doesn't look like a horrible bodge.

The thing is - we've discussed this at some length here before. And 
since all the "box" would do is essentially break out USB and HDMI. 
Whatever happened to this idea? It's bound to be cheaper in terms of 
development and manufacturing costs than doing a complete laptop chassis.

Gordan