--- crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
On Thu, Feb 4, 2016 at 6:08 PM, GaCuest gacuest@gmail.com 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.