On Sun, Apr 16, 2017 at 12:42 PM, Allan Mwenda <allanitomw...@gmail.com> wrote: > Just gonna ask here coz I'm too lazy.
:) > How hard would it be to repurpose one of these cheap $200 macbook clone > things with intel atoms to take an eoma68 card instead? I can already > imagine the rockchip one in it :) yeah me too. ok, repurposing of existing casework comes up as a recurring theme, quite a lot: i was one of the people who believed, back when this project started, that it would be practical and perfectly reasonable. so i wrote it up as one of the updates, "laptop comparison". ha, cool, i just encountered this: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/the-opposite-of-the-eoma-68-modular-laptop i'm redoing that PCB you can see at the end of that one, except it'll be coloured green.. :) this was the one: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/laptop-comparisons and... ah. that's strange... i didn't add the bits about the impracticalities of sourcing the components.(which are flat-out impossible in the anticipated quantities). that _was_ the whole purpose of mentioning the update. duuUuh :) ok so _somewhere_ i have a critique of the strategy which utilises pre-existing casework: it's a comprehensive fail, pure and simple. why? well, if you get some existing casework, it's likely to be at least 1 to 10 years old. the company that made the connectors - SPECIFICALLY for that SPECIFIC laptop case as SPECIAL ORDER ITEMS will have a unique relationship with the designer of the laptop. conversations between you and that supplier would go something like this: you: "hello! we want to make a PCB based around a proprietary laptop case! please give us 100 of your connectors!" supplier (very puzzled supplier): "hello! glad to hear from you. are you a representative of the company whom we signed an NDA with whom we have multi-million-dollar supply contracts?" you: "errr.... no? i just want 100 of your $0.10 connectors that you made 10 years ago" supplier (who is probably trying to be veery diplomatic by now): "10 years ago? you want to give us $10 for some parts where the tooling's been destroyed over 9 years ago and it would cost us $100k to remake it, and it's a proprietary (copyrighted) design as part of one of our unique client contracts??" ... you get the general idea, allan? :) even if it's a common design, as i've found out already, you need a *personal* connection - someone who *actually* has worked with that casework and knows *all* of the components *and* suppliers, has a good relationship with them, and is prepared to risk that because you're *guaranteed* to order at least 1k and preferably 10k units... .all of this should give you the general impression that it is a f*** of a lot of work and risk for almost zero return. it's similar to the hilarious "how i made a $3 toaster for $1800" ted talk, which is well worth watching. https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_thwaites_how_i_built_a_toaster_from_scratch/transcript?language=en l. _______________________________________________ arm-netbook mailing list arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook Send large attachments to arm-netb...@files.phcomp.co.uk