Am 26.10.2010 um 16:52 schrieb Ed Kapitein: > On 10/26/2010 03:17 PM, W. B. Kranendonk wrote: >> >> --- On Tue, 10/26/10, Andreas Fischer <[email protected]> wrote: >>> On 26.10.2010 12:14, Dr. H. Nikolaus >>> Schaller wrote: >>> >>>> How many new cases would you and your friends buy if >>> it costs: >>>> * 20 EUR >>>> * 50 EUR >>>> * 100 EUR >>>> * 200 EUR >>> (...) 20 Euros is >>> a no-brainer (...) >>> 50 Euros still sound ok to me. Anything above 100 Euros >>> seems to be a >>> bit steep for me. >> I agree on the 20 and 50 euro options, when talking just about the case. >> When talking about (fictive) 350E for a complete phone, that seems OK if you >> don't know that it's 150 for electronics and 200 for the case. >> >> Over 100E might be steep for only the case, but combined with the >> "foundation" idea Nikolaus launched it might get interesting: >> * 20 E >> * 50 E >> * 100 E and one share in the Opencase foundation >> * 200 E and two shares in the Opencase foundation >> or a similar scheme. In case (no pun intended) we use a production method >> that scales well, the average case price will lower over time and after a >> break even the foundation could pay the shareholders. Probably gives loads >> of headaches in administration, but could be an option :-) >> >> Boudewijn >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Openmoko community mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community >> >> > Hi All, > > Since it seems so hard to have a custom made case, why not use an > existing case for a HTC, nokia, iphone or the like? > (or a chinese replica) > The layout of the PCB needs to be alltered ofcourse, but it seems that > it might be an easier thing to do. > Just my 2 cents.
Interesting idea to think about. For me, this raises some questions. The first is: which one should we take? There are many candidates... Second one: do we want to become dependent on the availability of such products and/or spare parts? We need a source for pure spare parts where none of the *big five* can make our life even more difficult. Finally, it might become quite tricky to design a new PCB that fits into their cases because they use even more special tools and components than the Openmoko design does. If you look inside such a device they sometimes e.g. have multiple PCBs interconnected by Flex PCBs. Or they have custom designed connectors, buttons, springs, screws etc. Which is no problem if they produce 1 million units per month. Sean has given us a very important learning: we should use catalog components (e.g. DigiKey, Farnell, Mouser, RS-Components) as good as possible. Unfortunately they don't have a smartphone case. Nikolaus _______________________________________________ Openmoko community mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
