From: (wrong string) ürgen Hestermann <juergen.hestermann_at_gmx.de>
Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 10:53:45 +0200

> But iPod has a massive user base, and will possibly attract a bunch of
> developers.

Why should it if the hardware is not attractive? The massive user base
does only exist because they all run after the hype without looking at the
details. You will not find many developers in this group.

> It has been around for a while, and will probably be
> around for some time to come. A lot of the cheaper players phase out
> and seize to exist after a short amount of time.

I think that this should not be the first preference for rockbox ports.
Nobody knows what Apple will do with future versions. Maybe Rockbox
will not work on the next generation of IPods either. The main things to
consider are, whether the hardware is usefull (recording facility, good in/out
connectivity, NiMH standard batteries [although I think that you will not find
them anymore in mp3 players, unfortunately], good display and buttons,
moderate price, etc.) and whether the manufacturer gives information for a
rockbox port.

Has anyone ever tried to contact all possible hardware manufacturers whether
some like to produce a hardware dedicated to rockbox? Maybe if Rockbox
has been established as the standard OS for mp3 players ('Linux on mp3' ;-)
and everybody is asking for Rockbox before buying a device then the future
of Rockbox should be safe.

Of course, if people are working on an IPod port which otherwise would not
do any development for Rockbox then it could do no harm. But if time is wasted
which could be invested into a better hardware then I would not like it.

Jürgen Hestermann
Received on 2005-09-25