The Costs of Closed
Discussions regarding how to make money with an open source business model pop up with increasing regularity and that’s good because it’s a topic that needs debate. But I would bet that we’re going to see more and more articles like this one, that basically start to point out the real costs of being a "closed source" business model. If your users are sophisticated enough to hack your product to get what they’re looking for, is it more economic to just design it so they can get it easily or to continually try to fend them off with counter measures? I personally think the answer is obvious. Just look at the state of the music biz. Users will get what they want one way or another. The advantages of being open outweigh the costs of being closed.
UPDATE – another good article.
September 29th, 2007 at 1:26 am
hmm, that reminds me. i have some ideas and questions.
first of a question, what interface is it between the base and the modules?
and are you people planing a fold out keyboard, that can be attached to the base so that it will fold up like a cover, if one have a screen attached? like say those bluetooth ones that one can buy?
and that one could potentially fold away so that one could access the a screen without having to fold out said keyboard?
im thinking about something that could turn it into a nice samsung sph-9200 “clone”.
hell, if one had a module that could take a express card, like from a laptop, or maybe bluetooth, then one could turn it into a very “on the go” device.
October 1st, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Hey turn_
Thanks for the comment. Regarding your interface question – the connector we use to electrically attach the base with the modules actually supports every interface the CPU has. We have no proprietary interface protocol.
Modules like the ones you suggest are on our list – the question is priority and sequencing. But since it seems like you’re putting your vote behind them, I will raise their priority level
October 1st, 2007 at 3:37 pm
I would like to put a vote behind the Audio I/O board, and not just to play MP3’s.
I’m thinking of TTS processing for an easy way to build devices for the sight impaired.
GPS, LCD and Accelerometer are also thing that would be great. the CCD… well it’s a good idea, but I don’t seem much mileage out of it. Most phone have a camera.
Just my $.02
-Shawn
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:42 pm
If you’re taking votes, definitely throw priority on the audio board. It should come out first thing IMO, too many ideas would benefit from it. The eyes may have the most bandwidth, but don’t forget ears. I’m having troubles picturing uses for the platform, other than robotics, that don’t require, or at least benefit greatly from sound.
The folding keyboard thing is cool too.
October 9th, 2007 at 10:55 am
So when are you doing Bug+Rochester?
November 20th, 2007 at 12:41 am
Hi, are they HSMC connector between base and modules?