<html><head></head><body>God damn NDAs. And it really is a common design too, chinese companies are basically slapping logos on the same chassis. That is unfortunate, the situation you describe. <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 16 April 2017 16:01:43 GMT+03:00, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton <lkcl@lkcl.net> wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<pre class="k9mail">On Sun, Apr 16, 2017 at 12:42 PM, Allan Mwenda <allanitomwesh@gmail.com> wrote:<br /><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"> Just gonna ask here coz I'm too lazy.<br /></blockquote><br /> :)<br /><br /><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"> How hard would it be to repurpose one of these cheap $200 macbook clone<br /> things with intel atoms to take an eoma68 card instead? I can already<br /> imagine the rockchip one in it :)<br /></blockquote><br /> yeah me too. ok, repurposing of existing casework comes up as a<br />recurring theme, quite a lot: i was one of the people who believed,<br />back when this project started, that it would be practical and<br />perfectly reasonable. so i wrote it up as one of the updates, "laptop<br />comparison". ha, cool, i just encountered this:<br /><br /> <a href="https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/the-opposite-of-the-eoma-68-modular-laptop">https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/the-opposite-of-the-eoma-68-modular-laptop</a><br /><br /> i'm redoing that PCB you can see at the end of that one, except it'll<br />be coloured green.. :)<br /><br /> this was the one:<br /> <a href="https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/laptop-comparisons">https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/laptop-comparisons</a><br /><br /> and... ah. that's strange... i didn't add the bits about the<br />impracticalities of sourcing the components.(which are flat-out<br />impossible in the anticipated quantities). that _was_ the whole<br />purpose of mentioning the update. duuUuh :)<br /><br /> ok so _somewhere_ i have a critique of the strategy which utilises<br />pre-existing casework: it's a comprehensive fail, pure and simple.<br /><br /> why?<br /><br /> well, if you get some existing casework, it's likely to be at least 1<br />to 10 years old. the company that made the connectors - SPECIFICALLY<br />for that SPECIFIC laptop case as SPECIAL ORDER ITEMS will have a<br />unique relationship with the designer of the laptop.<br /><br /> conversations between you and that supplier would go something like this:<br /><br /> you: "hello! we want to make a PCB based around a proprietary laptop<br />case! please give us 100 of your connectors!"<br /><br /> supplier (very puzzled supplier): "hello! glad to hear from you.<br />are you a representative of the company whom we signed an NDA with<br />whom we have multi-million-dollar supply contracts?"<br /><br /> you: "errr.... no? i just want 100 of your $0.10 connectors that you<br />made 10 years ago"<br /><br /> supplier (who is probably trying to be veery diplomatic by now): "10<br />years ago? you want to give us $10 for some parts where the tooling's<br />been destroyed over 9 years ago and it would cost us $100k to remake<br />it, and it's a proprietary (copyrighted) design as part of one of our<br />unique client contracts??"<br /><br />... you get the general idea, allan? :)<br /><br />even if it's a common design, as i've found out already, you need a<br />*personal* connection - someone who *actually* has worked with that<br />casework and knows *all* of the components *and* suppliers, has a good<br />relationship with them, and is prepared to risk that because you're<br />*guaranteed* to order at least 1k and preferably 10k units...<br /><br />.all of this should give you the general impression that it is a f***<br />of a lot of work and risk for almost zero return. it's similar to the<br />hilarious "how i made a $3 toaster for $1800" ted talk, which is well<br />worth watching.<br /><br /> <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_thwaites_how_i_built_a_toaster_from_scratch/transcript?language=en">https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_thwaites_how_i_built_a_toaster_from_scratch/transcript?language=en</a><br /><br />l.<br /><br /><hr /><br />arm-netbook mailing list arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk<br /><a href="http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook">http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook</a><br />Send large attachments to arm-netbook@files.phcomp.co.uk</pre></blockquote></div><br>
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