From: Fred Maxwell <rockbox_at_anti-spam.org>
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:43:04 -0500

I don't know if I'm the Fred you're referring to, but I could give you as
much battery runtime as you wanted. It's all dependent on how much you're
willing to spend (e.g. are exotics like Lithium Polymer an option?) and how
big a device that you're willing to carry.

I'd like to see easily removable battery packs with a separate charger. A
decent delta peak charger could renew the batteries in half of an hour or
less while the separate packs would mean that one could carry spare battery
packs when charging was not practical. If users didn't need 15-30 minute
charging, then they could go with a low-cost .1C charge rate trickle
charger.

The device should also be able to be powered through an external power
connection. It's annoying to be filling the Archos up and have the
batteries weaken even while it's plugged in to charge. Plus, it would be
good for people who used them in the car, on a desk, etc.

Regards,
  Fred Maxwell

> -----Original Message-----
> From: rockbox-bounces_at_cool.haxx.se [mailto:rockbox-bounces_at_cool.haxx.se]
> On Behalf Of Rocker
> Sent: Monday, March 22, 2004 11:21 AM
> To: Rockbox development
> Subject: Re: How to get them to manufacture for us: An idea and a draft
>
> Right. Then maybe we could get the hardware quality and features we want!
> I know there are some engineers on this list. Fred could probably give us
> 20 hours of battery runtime eh? (smile)...rocker
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mat Holton" <mathew.holton_at_surface-inspection.com>
> To: <rockbox_at_cool.haxx.se>
> Sent: Monday, March 22, 2004 5:04 AM
> Subject: Re: How to get them to manufacture for us: An idea and a draft
>
>
> I like the sound of that. We could all chip in a certain amount and pay a
> manufacturer to
> make the hardware! and flog 'em on the internet! Probably a small return
> if
> loads of us
> formed the company but fun anyway.
>
> -----Original Message-----From: Rocker <rocker_at_shaw.ca>To: Rockbox
> development <rockbox_at_cool.haxx.se>Sent: 22/03/2004 01:13Subject: Re: How
> to
> get them to manufacture for us: An idea and a draftPersonally (if the
> world
> was perfect) The Rockbox team as well as dedicated
>
> users would pool their resources and design our very own player and go
> into
>
> business! loll!
>
> rocker
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: "Björn Stenberg" <bjorn_at_haxx.se>
>
> To: "Rockbox development" <rockbox_at_cool.haxx.se>
>
> Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2004 2:51 PM
>
> Subject: Re: How to get them to manufacture for us: An idea and a draft
>
>
>
> David H. Straayer wrote:
>
> > 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?
>
>
> An interesting initiative. I think you should be wary about painting a too
>
> rosy picture, however.
>
>
> > An international team of open-source software writers has
>
> > entirely re-written, from the "ground up",
>
>
> Nitpick: We haven't re-written anything. We've just written it. Re-written
>
> would mean we've done it before. :-)
>
>
> > Here are some of the key advantages of this approach:
>
> > 1. No software/firmware development costs. Obviously a big plus
>
>
> This is only true if the device they make is an exact Archos clone, which
> is
>
> unlikely. After all, the Archos design is pretty old by now. Most new
>
> designs will want to use better components and perhaps different features.
>
> These changes, whatever they are, need to be supported by the firmware.
>
>
> A manufacturer can not depend on Rockbox, or any other voluntary team, to
>
> write this for them, for free, on schedule. Open Source software is, by
>
> definition, not written on schedule.
>
>
> What Rockbox provides them with, rather, is an "mp3 player starting kit".
>
> For a small price (their changes), they get a complete mp3 player
> firmware.
>
> All they need to do is adapt some of the drivers to their hardware. (Which
>
> of course they could do by contracting one or more Rockbox developer.)
> This
>
> will cut down their firmware development cost greatly, but it won't
>
> eliminate it.
>
>
> I think it is important to stress the sharing part. The price they pay for
>
> using our software is that we get all their modifications in return. This
> is
>
> sometimes overlooked by companies who seem to view Open Source code as
>
> freebies they can grab and use however they like.
>
>
> > the Rockbox team at
>
> > http://cool.haxx.se/mailman/listinfo/rockbox
>
>
> I would suggest linking to our front page http://rockbox.haxx.se rather
> than
>
> the mailing list info page. If you like, you can list me as contact
> person.
>
>
> > They probably will even be
>
> > happy to provide some preliminary schematics,
>
>
> Do you really mean this? Or do you mean we'll be happy to _review_
>
> preliminary schematics? I'm not aware of anyone offering perliminary
>
> schematics.
>
>
> Overall I think it's an exciting initiative. I just want to make sure we
>
> don't misrepresent the nature of Open Source Software or write something
>
> that's "too good to be true".
>
>
> --
>
> Björn
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> http://cool.haxx.se/mailman/listinfo/rockbox
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> http://cool.haxx.se/mailman/listinfo/rockbox
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> ------------------
>
> "Life's just a mood ring we're not allowed to see."
>
> They Might Be Giants.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> ------------------
>
> Surface Inspection Ltd
> www.surface-inspection.com
> _______________________________________________
> http://cool.haxx.se/mailman/listinfo/rockbox
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://cool.haxx.se/mailman/listinfo/rockbox


_______________________________________________
http://cool.haxx.se/mailman/listinfo/rockbox
Received on 2004-03-22