--- crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
On Thu, Feb 4, 2016 at 6:08 PM, GaCuest <[email protected]> wrote: >> good for you! so the question becomes: is it worthwhile for you to >> spend the time as an early adopter, to help "prove the concept" - i'm >> pretty sure it'd be possible to find a home for the end result (i have >> to give one to dr stallman for example). >> > > Well, maybe the problem is that the project initially was too ambitious > for a small company. > > I remember when EOMA-68 would be sold in stores and you could > put it on any kind of device. It was a very good idea, but very difficult > to do (at least without the money of a big company). not really. remember that i am doing this as a very long-term project. it's not a "if it doesn't succeed in the first 8 months give up and go do something else" project. > The problem is that people will be reluctant to buy a computer with > Allwinner A20. Even the people will be reluctant to buy a computer > without Windows or Linux (x86). the entire EOMA68 concept is based around upgradeability. i *don't care* that the A20 is "old" - it's "good enough". and in the future, because of the upgradeability, other SoCs will be along and will fit into the form-factor - double the RAM, double the speed, double the storage. remember, this is *not* a "give up after 6-8 months" project, it's a "remain committed for the next 10-12 years" project. > Perhaps it would be interesting to establish requirements for > software and minimum hardware requirements as did 96boards. no. absolutely not. ok, clarification: the standard defines the minimum hardware requirements, in terms of what interfaces MUST be provided (even if they're lower speed). but software-wise: how can you define minimum software requirements for a pass-through card? you can't. how can you define minimum software requirements for an FPGA-based card? you can't. the whole point of the exercise is that there should be a *range* of CPU Cards. i've discovered a $3.50 SoC from Ingenic that has 128mb of built-in RAM. it's possible to create a 2-layer PCB based around it. total BOM could well be around the $8 mark. ... should i define "minimum software requirements" that exclude the possibility of creating such a low-cost CPU Card? hell no!! now, if that $3.50 SoC happened not to have the required SD/MMC interface, or happened not to have 18-pin RGB/TTL which could do 1366x768, or anything else, *then* it automatically gets excluded. bottom line i'm happy with the way things are with EOMA68, and i trust that there will be a huge range of SoCs in the future that will fit even the highest-end requirements and cost well over $200, as well as fitting people's needs at the lower end as well. l. _______________________________________________ arm-netbook mailing list [email protected] http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook Send large attachments to [email protected]
