<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Please don't sell it to me, I'm already in! ;)<br></div><div><br>Is $200 ARM-based laptop technically possible? Sure.<br><br></div>Is $200 Intel-based laptop technically possible? Sure.<br>
<br></div>Can Linux on ARM satisfy average user needs? Sure.<br><br></div><div>Will world become better when the laptop discussed here comes to live? Definitely.<br></div><div><br></div>Do I want to have and ARM-based laptop? Yes, and I'm willing to pay more than $200 for it if required.<br>
<br></div>Will an average user with $200 budget choose an ARM/Linux laptop, or an Android tablet? I don't know. Maybe some will, but not a majority.<br><br></div>Will a company with a known laptop brand invest into cheap ARM laptop? I *believe* not (yes, that's a matter of beliefs, I cannot reasonably prove it)<br>
<i><br>(N.B. Toshiba AC100 is a good example: it is $200 lap.. ughm, netbook. It's extremely popular with the few tech-savvy persons who know what it is. And it's discontinued.)</i><br><br></div>Is the ARM laptop project worth investing, at the very least, some time into? I *believe* yes.<br>
<br><span><font color="#888888">Sincerely,<br></font></span><span><font color="#888888">Mikhail<br></font></span><div class=""><div id=":d3" class="" tabindex="0"><img class="" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/images/cleardot.gif"></div>
</div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 1:07 AM, luke.leighton <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:luke.leighton@gmail.com" target="_blank">luke.leighton@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div class="im">On Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 9:42 PM, darton 9d <<a href="mailto:darton9d@gmail.com">darton9d@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>> yes, really. under 1kg. a 15in laptop. with floor space around<br>
>> 14in x 12 in and with an interchangeable upgradeable CPU Card<br>
>> making it future-proof. and being able to take a 1920x1080 LCD.<br>
>><br>
>> i'm kinda confused. why isn't any other manufacturer doing this??<br>
> what are we missing??<br>
><br>
> I guess the main reason for manufacturers not looking at ARM-based laptops<br>
> is that they care about profit above all else, and the profitability of an<br>
> ARM-based laptop project is questionable. Remember, one has to spend quite a<br>
> lot on engineering to get the thing up and running, and the product<br>
> absolutely must be well-selling in order to get real benefits from<br>
> mass-production.<br>
<br>
</div> funny... wasn't there something on slashdot just recently about $200<br>
android laptops from the CEO of Intel? he said "it would be possible<br>
to have $200 windows laptops as well but that's down to microsoft".<br>
<br>
i have a story to tell you, here. i was speaking with someone a few<br>
days ago - absolutely inspiring. he's been working with schools for a<br>
long time. the most haunting story he tells is of teachers with *no*<br>
experience of computers being afraid of them, not so much because<br>
they're not sure what to do, although that does come into it, but<br>
because they're afraid of breaking something merely by going online.<br>
<br>
it turns out that a contract to keep a windows system running in a<br>
school in the U.S. is a whopping $1500 *per computer*, *per year*. if<br>
they can't afford that then they can always pay $50,000 USD per year<br>
for an onsite IT sysadmin.<br>
<br>
as they can't afford that either, they simply let the computers...<br>
rot. so this guy _routinely_ sees 50% of the computers in classrooms<br>
across america broken for one reason or another. fifty percent!! and<br>
the remaining 50% is ineffective as it's all about "training", not<br>
interacting.<br>
<br>
so what he's doing is putting together a software suite along-side a<br>
combination of linux and android, and is taking that in with low-cost<br>
hardware and an internet connection. the software is interactive:<br>
it's engaging. and he takes it along to areas where there are<br>
eight-year-olds who've been attending "school", can't read, can't<br>
write, and can't do basic arithmetic.... and WITHIN NINETY DAYS of<br>
using this software they're able to read, type, write and do algebra<br>
with confidence.<br>
<br>
that's just... awe-inspiring.<br>
<br>
so i'm not that concerned.<br>
<div class="im"><br>
> The bad part is that the product may not sell that well. First, it has to<br>
> compete with the existing ARM tablets.<br>
<br>
</div> well, the advantage of EOMA-68, which people such as the person i<br>
spoke to in the story above absolutely loved, is that the CPU Card is<br>
shareable across several units.<br>
<br>
if you think in terms of a "single product", and you're only ever<br>
going to buy one product [ever, in your life], then yes, EOMA-68 is an<br>
additional cost that has no value.<br>
<br>
... and how many people do you know will only ever buy one computing<br>
appliance across their entire lifetime?<br>
<div class="im"><br>
> Second, it has to compete with the<br>
> low-cost low-powered segment of the traditional Intel/AMD-based laptops.<br>
> Last but not least, there's no OS that is ready to install *and* is widely<br>
> known and accepted by end-users.<br>
<br>
</div> well, the story above i think helps out there. the right software in<br>
the right place makes all the difference.<br>
<br>
remember also that the query with intel is still outstanding [and<br>
progressing]. unfortunately the person i was due to speak with has<br>
been ill for the past 10 days: i'll contact his colleagues i think,<br>
instead, but the goal there is to present intel with an opportunity to<br>
help see an EOMA-68 22nm ValleyView CPU Card brought about.<br>
<div class="im"><br>
<br>
> Personally, I'd be happy to have a 1kg ARM *laptop* (not tablet, not<br>
> netbook) that runs Linux for several hours, allowing myself to comfortably<br>
> work with documents and maybe hack some code (provided the machine has<br>
> enough RAM to hold the environment). Unfortunately, most users either don't<br>
> need a physical keyboard (-->tablet) or cannot get rid of the curse of the<br>
> one and only proprietary office suite (-->traditional laptops). Thus, the<br>
> potential audience of an ARM laptop project is more or less limited to geeks<br>
> willing to spend time porting FOSS tools to ARM.<br>
<br>
</div> i'm happy with that, bearing in mind that those geeks will know that<br>
by around 2014 they'll have an Intel SoC upgrade CPU Card as an<br>
option.<br>
<div class="im"><br>
<br>
> Oh, and making low-cost durable future-proof products may be *bad* for a<br>
> profit-oriented company.<br>
<br>
</div> ahh yer think??? :) *lol*.<br>
<br>
luckily i don't have experience of running a large corporate<br>
profit-orientated company, eh?<br>
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
l.<br>
<br>
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