[Discuss] Google the game changer?

Sat Nov 30 09:45:35 UTC 2013

One Marino Hernandez (just a founder of Marketply <http://www.marketply.org>),
might have tapped on his preferred keyboard
> How do you feel about this
> and who else do you see as a game changer
> for the rise of open source hardware?

>From our point of view, our answer would be this :
We would be very happy if the big game changers for the rise of opensource
hardware would be:
* the CERN Intergovernmental Organization
* the UNESCO Intergovernmental Organization

Please note that it is only a point of view, a sort of "dream", and we do
not have any interest in those organizations.
This hope does not mean it is a reality. Indeed, those both Organizations
might have other priority goals instead of being game changer in open
source hardware.
Our point of view comes from this theory: placing the future of open source
goods under a large intergovernmental umbrella, might be better than
placing it under more private umbrellas. As CERN and UNESCO use, or
influence the use, of goods massively for their actions, then, they might
be great change players.

Anyway, this is only a mix of theory and dream.

Antoine
Freely

2013/11/29 FarMcKon <eponymous at farmckon.net>

>
> I never said they shouldn't try. I said **Here is what we had problems
> with when we tried.**
>
> Equally easy, but slower and stupider failures path: Don't listen to
> anyone with prior experience when you start your project!
>
>
> hack on,
> - Far McKon
>
>
>
> On 11/29/13 3:19 PM, Marketply wrote:
>
>  Without knowing if Bug Labs had developed in the open like Motorola will,
> that will make a crucial difference.
>
>  Motorola is seeking nothing short of reinventing the mobile phone. The
> problems you mention could result from working within the constraints of
> the established paradigm.
>
>  A useful analogy in GPS : imagine the problems and 'impossibilities' that
> engineers would've encountered had they approached GPS technology from the
> paradigm of Newtonian physics. Well actually they had, and upon failure
> promptly upgraded to the physics of relativity.
>
>  If Bug Labs, Open Moko, etc, were all working with components that are
> optimized for the established paradigm, that could've been the problem.
> Motorola is likely to work with components reinvented specifically for
> their new architecture of plug/unplug DIY modules.
>
>  Because the easiest way to fail without any gain, or to pre-fail (failure
> by giving up before exhausting all avenues), is to view the goal as
> impossible, instead of merely doubting the current method of getting there.
>
>  Since Project Ara is being developed in the open, with community input,
> we avoid the cathedral effect that can reinforce the existing paradigm and
> even produce tunnel-vision. To break the existing paradigm, you need a more
> diverse environment where for every set of engineers that see a dead-end,
> another set of engineers see the possibilities.
>
>  What if you could bypass the solder problem entirely by merely bypassing
> solder itself, with chips in the electronics using the principles of
> wireless power? Or nano chips that don't use solder in a magnetic circuit<http://www.research-tv.com/stories/technology/nanotech/>?
>
>
>  The great thing about developing in the open is that more people get to
> see when the team decides something is a dead end, and the extra eyes boost
> the chance that someone outside the core team will have a solution.
>
>  Marino Hernandez
> (just a founder of Marketply <http://www.marketply.org>)
> 203-429-4205
>
>
>
> On November 29, 2013 at 9:35 AM FarMcKon <eponymous at farmckon.net><eponymous at farmckon.net>wrote:
>
>  I love the idea, but I've been down that road once (I was a kernel/app
> developer at Bug Labs) and while 'lego hardware' is a great concept, it's
> impossible to make practical.
>
> Here is what (at an engineering level) made a lot of trouble at Bug (IMHO,
> not an official view):
>  - To get people onboard, you really need 2-4 years of engineering
> experience. It's not a 'get it for christmas' hobby.  The people that will
> use and benefit from this are other R&D Departments.
>
>  - The faster, hotter, and smarter you make electronics, the more finicky
> they are.  A ****LOT*** of chips are hard to get happy and stable if hand
> soldered by a pro. Making them a plug/unplug module (and protections
> circuits to go with it)  and your failure rate explodes, or your
> engineering effort expodes.
>
>  - A lot of the protocols they are trying to use over these wires are not
> built for plug/unplug. So most chips will need to have a 'translater' to
> get on a bus that can handle that spec, or you will need to do a hell a lot
> of hack arounds to get those protocols working in a plug/unplug
> environment.
>
> - Cost. On My Christ, sourcing high-end chips (Broadcom GSM, low-power
> wifi) is hard enough for medium sized firms. Sourcing them in hobby
> quantity, and then ruggidizing them. By the time you get them stable and
> out 3 years later, they are so outdated it's  sad.
>
> - Delay: The open phone tech will always be 6 to 24 months behind the
> advertised *buy now, we ship next month* phones.
>
> We've been down this road (Open Moko. Bug Labs, and more)**.  The 'fully
> configurable' system is going to be crash-tastic.  It's great PR, it's shit
> engineering. It's always amazing to watch computer science (and some
> engineering disciplines) waste weeks or months of effort when 2 days of
> research (google, and calling experienced friends) could have mapped out
> the problems space and either stopped the project, or avoided the giant
> time-suck holes other people fell in.
>
> I have more hope for jolla, where the 'plugable' modules are nice-to-have
> add-ons and external to the core system.  They are a bit isolated, and they
> are not core components of operation.  It's much more likely to succeed,
> and they can use isolation circuits and 'firewall' the electronics at a few
> external point, instead of ruggidizing a lot of internal connections.
>
> IMHO The game-changer in the rise of Open Hardware is going to be:
>  - Moore's law slowing down (+)
>  - Retired Baby Boomer engineers getting into less-profit-driven positions
> as they retire (+)
>  - Patent trolls focusing on hardware more (-)
>  - Competition from China driving Americans companies to be more
> collaborative, and doing that collab open (+)
>  - Price concerns driving Americans companies to be more collaborative,
> and doing that collab open (+)
>  - Internet of things drive + SDR:  Wireless technologies make it easier
> to sniff and reverse-engineer internal protocols, meaning it will be harder
> to lock folks out.  You just need an antenna, and compatible code to hack
> something in the system. It lowers integration cost for legit partners, as
> well as 3rd party add on's and hackers as well.
>
>
> hack on,
> - Far McKon
>
>
> On 11/29/13 4:04 AM, Marketply wrote:
>
>  Google Summer of Code<http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/document/show/gsoc_program/google/gsoc2013/about_page>pays students to write code for open source projects. Thus increasing the
> pool of people introduced to open source while at the same time improving
> the health of open source.
>
>  Android has helped to get open source operating systems into people's
> hands (and smart handhelds) globally.
>
>  Project Ara<http://motorola-blog.blogspot.com/2013/10/goodbye-sticky-hello-ara.html>could similarly help propel the global reach of the open source hardware
> movement:
>
>  *Project Ara is developing a free, open hardware platform for creating
> highly modular smartphones. We want to do for hardware what the Android
> platform has done for software: create a vibrant third-party developer
> ecosystem, lower the barriers to entry, increase the pace of innovation,
> and substantially compress development timelines.*
>
>  Aside: the next logical progression could be a Motorola Summer of
> Hardware.
>
>  How do you feel about this and who else do you see as a game changer for
> the rise of open source hardware?
>
>  Marino Hernandez
> (just a founder of Marketply <http://www.marketply.org>)
> 203-429-4205
>
>
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