On Jun 11 20:20-0300, Werner Almesberger wrote: <snip> > Even in the hardware area, there's more than just low-risk > implementation projects. E.g., there should also be activities that > take on the risky bits and bring them under control. Such "pioneer" > efforts can then be integrated into the next "safe" design. <snip>
I would really like to see this paradigm expanded to other types of currently-proprietary hardware. You could even rip off large parts of the current design :). As an example: An openmoko HAM radio. Commercially-produced amateur radio equipment is quite proprietary (and expensive, since it's a fairly small market). Most of them have a very limited feature set, partly because of software limitations. Since the nature of amateur radio is to promote experimentation and emergency communications, a device like the openmoko (replacing the GSM radio with hardware to handle HAM radio, SDR?; and a larger form factor) would be highly useful. To give you an idea on pricing, there is a popular (high-end) $400 handheld right now that can handle 2 receive channels, bluetooth (w/$70 add-on board), gps (w/$70 gps receiver add-on for you to accidentally break off the top), APRS messaging (easily handled by a PIC microcontroller... imagine what a real processor could do), and a 1.3"x.8" dot matrix display. -- Eldon Koyle -- BOFH excuse #185: system consumed all the paper for paging _______________________________________________ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community