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Rockbox mail archiveSubject: Re: How to get them to manufacture for us: An idea and a draftRe: How to get them to manufacture for us: An idea and a draft
From: roland <for_spam_at_gmx.de>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 23:03:30 +0100 damn, this is great! perhaps some more advantages from a "user perspective" could be added to make clear, what powerful combination a "low cost hardware mp3 player" and a "highliy sophisticated opensource firmware" are and what advantage this means for the end user. all in all, i`m really like your idea! :) regards roland ----- Original Message ----- From: "David H. Straayer" <mail_at_dhstraayer.com> To: "Rockbox Development" <rockbox_at_cool.haxx.se> Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2004 8:49 PM Subject: How to get them to manufacture for us: An idea and a draft > Ok, several of you have taken to the idea of soliciting Asian > manufacturers to make players for Rockbox. > > My idea is this: let's work on a magazine article for placement > in design magazines in Asia. The article is likely to welcomed > by the editors of these magazines, and it will get to the target > audience we'd like to reach. > > I've done a (very crude) first draft of such an article, below. > Let's pass it around and comment on it. I'll dredge through my > old notes, and Google around to try to find placement for it. > > What do you think? > > David H. Straayer > 916.729.4954 > mail_at_dhstraayer.com > > Draft follows: > > > Title: Open-source Comes to Consumer Electronics > > Open-source software has had a substantial impact on the > computer market, but has not yet had much impact on the consumer > electronics market. > > That may be about to change. > > An international team of open-source software writers has > entirely re-written, from the "ground up", a new set of firmware > called "Rockbox" for a popular hard-disk-based MP3 player, the > Archos. Actually, the team has come up with versions of the > firmware for several different models of the Archos. > > Hard-disk based MP3 players are becoming very popular, with > Apple's IPod being a smash hit. Apple is well known for > innovative and user-friendly products, and their proprietary > approach has enabled them to maintain higher margins than the > norm for the electronics industry. Of course, those higher > margins translate into higher prices for the consumer. > > Software in consumer electronics > As consumer electronics products get increasingly complex, > software/firmware plays an increasing part in their design. But > the skills necessary for software and user interface design are > different from the skills necessary for high-volume manufacture. > This has lead to a dichotomy between "design houses" and > "manufacturing specialists", the latter primarily on the Pacific > Rim. > > This means that the manufacturing specialists often had to team > up with other companies, who supply designs, software, and > marketing for their products. This meant smaller margins for > the manufacturers. > > But the open-source movement and the Internet may be changing > all that. In order to put a hot hard-disk-based MP3 player on > the market, it is now possible to design to a standard > hardware-software interface, load free open-source software on > the product, and sell it via Internet, or small distributors in > target markets. > > Advantages of the open-source approach > Here are some of the key advantages of this approach: > 1. No software/firmware development costs. Obviously a big plus > 2. No worry about costly bug fixes and firmware support. As > long as the product is based on a re-writable store, like flash > memory or hard disk, the only code that needs to be "rock solid" > is the "boot loader" that gets the firmware in place and > running. The open-source community will ensure t hat the > software is maintained. > 3. Allows manufacturing specialists to focus on what they do > best: mechanical and electrical design for low-cost, miniature > consumer products of high value. > 4. Evolving user-interface design produces better products. It > is tough to get those pesky user interface issues designed > right. But the open source community is always thinking about > alternatives, trying them, rejecting some, and accepting the > best. The product design "grows" naturally, like a biological > system. > 5. Access to specialized markets via special enhancements. For > example, Rockbox supports a wide range of languages, from > Afrikaans and Chinese through Hebrew and Polish to Turkish and > Wallisertitsch. This sort of customization is expensive to > develop. It opens markets that would otherwise be far too > expensive to enter. > 6. Major innovations. Rockbox now supports a full "talking" > user interface that allows it to serve sigh-impaired (blind) > customers at far less cost than products designed exclusively > for them. > > How to design a product to use open-source software > > 1. The first thing to do is to find an open-source team with a > software base appropriate for the product you want to build. > For example, if you would like to manufacture hard-disk based > MP3 players, the Rockbox team at > http://cool.haxx.se/mailman/listinfo/rockbox could get you > started. If you have other software-intensive consumer > electronics projects in mind, you could post messages on > electronic bulletin boards for similar open-source projects and > ask for volunteers. > 2. When you contact folks who are willing to write or adapt code > for your product, ask them about the necessary hardware > interface details. They'll be glad to share with you what you > need to know to design your product. They probably will even be > happy to provide some preliminary schematics, and review the > changes you need to make for your manufacturing plans. > 3. Share with them what you are doing. This community hates the > "dreaded NDA word" that is so much a part of proprietary design. > You want to listen to what they have to say about hardware > features that are useful or unnecessary. They will be delighted > to suggest enhancements that can make your product better. > 4. Identify key members of this team and negotiate with them for > their willingness to support your product. They won't be > working for you, so you have to trust that they will have > firmware ready to ship with your product. Obviously, the closer > you product is to existing designs, the safer this will be. But > the open-source community is much more reliable than you might > think at first. If they make a promise, they will keep it. > 5. Be prepared to send them prototypes and manufactured units to > these developers. They have been spending money out of their > own pocket to buy products; they will be delighted to get > "freebies" in exchange for their efforts. Believe me, this will > cost a whole lot less than hiring software teams for pay. > In short > This is a great way to get profitable and innovative products to > the market and the bottom line. All you sacrifice is the > proprietary nature of the products, but that has already been > typically "owned" by the overseas design teams anyway. > > {pictures of Archos, IPod, and Rockbox screens are in order., > perhaps other contacts, etc.} > > #END# > > > > _______________________________________________ > http://cool.haxx.se/mailman/listinfo/rockbox > _______________________________________________ http://cool.haxx.se/mailman/listinfo/rockbox Received on 2004-03-21 Page template was last modified "Tue Sep 7 00:00:02 2021" The Rockbox Crew -- Privacy Policy |