New Open Hardware company

[steven mosher]

 Thanks for the comment. Perhaps you should repost it over on the blogs so
everyone can benefit.
 See below.

On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 11:44 AM, Laszlo KREKACS <
laszlo.krekacs.list at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 5:47 PM, steven mosher<moshersteven at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > http://www.qi-hardware.com/
>
> Sorry for being ignorant, but who are the target group?


   For the initial device the target audience is developers. Period. Going
forward
   the roadmap will be shaped by the community. In the Open.

>
>
> I, for myself would not buy a device like this. It resembles like
> the old "manager calculator"... (my mom had one like 15 years ago or so)


  That's fine. The difference is you probably couldn't turn that old
calculator
  into a picture viewer, or offline wikipedia device, or notepad, or music
player,
  or plug in a Wifi adapter or have a say in the roadmap. But physically,
yes,
  it looks like one of those. Don't judge a book they say.

>
>
> It looks to me you are completely ignoring the world trend:
> More functions concentrate into less devices.
> People dont like to carry many things with them...


  A couple points: All all times during the evolution of devices you see
  two trends: one trend toward the "all in wonder" and another trend toward
  appliances. MP3 is my favorite example. being there at the start we faced
  the same argument with one set of people ( in design) arguing that the PC
  was going to be the center of convergence. Another set saying the phone
  was going to be the center. A third set saying the game console would be
the
  center. Another set arguing the palm pilot would be the center. In the
midst
  of this was another group. We thought that a device dedicated to music
  would get traction. And a device dedicated to video etc etc. At one point
  ( long before the flip camera) we argued for a dedicated simple device for
  video recording. The point is there are always two movements: one movement
  toward integration ( swiss army knives) and another movement toward
specialized
  devices.

 All that said, our road aims at enabling the type device you are talking
about. Over
 time we will add more capability to the device. But we will start with
something
 that WORKS and improve on that. Adding capability in a well disciplined
manner
 so that developers don't have to struggle with hardware that is dodgy.

>
>
> So what would be used for this device? A dictionary? An ebook? (too
> small display)
> A calendar?


   The device we adopted ( and opened) had the following proprietary
software
   on it.
   1. games
   2. MP3 player
   3. Audio recording
   4. Video (Mp4) player
   5. Dictionaries
   6. Photo viewer.
   7. Notepad.
   8. calculator.

   We have no intention of creating our own software to go on this device.
The Community
   has plenty of applications it can put on the device. Or you could target
putting open content
   ( like wikitravel or wikidictionary etc ) on the device.

>
>
> If it is used for something specific, who will develop the (specific)
> software for it?


  See above.

>
>
> I dont want to ruin the party, but looks to me you are ignoring the basics.


  I like to think we are embracing the basics. If we want to get to a device
that has all
  the features you want, what is the best way to get there? If I told you
that the first
 device we would build was going to have wifi and gps and touchscreen, and
bluetooth, and
  3G and 3D graphics and replace your iphone, you'd rightly throw the
bullshit flag.
  Instead, we start with the basics. A device that works. From that
foundation we can
  move forward and build more complex things. You can be a part of that,
contribute thoughts,
  make critical comments, shape the future.

>
>
> Laszlo
>
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