Freerunner's Future

[Eldon Koyle]

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
-- 
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