[Arm-netbook] EOMA, Improv etc

[peter green]

Boris Barbour wrote:
> if I understand correctly. 
> What would be the easiest (=cheapest) product to build? I'm guessing a mini-
> pc, since there is no screen to integrate and no real space constraint, 
>   
The problem is you have to answer the question of "what does this 
proposed new product offer that products that are already on the market 
do not".

I know you will say "the ability to replace the CPU card and avoid 
throwing the rest of the product away". However there are two problems 
with that.

1: we are talking about a new unproven product line. What confidence 
does a potential customer have that there will ever be a second 
generation of CPU card?
2: it relies on their being significant value in the product OUTSIDE the 
cpu card. If the rest of the product is little more than a breakout 
board for the CPU card that value isn't there.

So since the modularity advantage is rather theoretical at this point 
you have to offer something compelling outside of the modularity, 
whether that is some unique feature, better performance at a given price 
point than has previously been available or something else. Improv 
simply didn't offer that, it had a substantially higher price point than 
the cubie2 which had the same hardware and was already on the market.