3 ms·

Well, not too serious of course -- but with the right approach to manufacturing, it would be both possible and desirable [1]. I'm similarly interested in using

by rch 15y ago

Well, not too serious of course -- but with the right approach to manufacturing, it would be both possible and desirable [1]. I'm similarly interested in using 3d printers to build enclosures for small electronics like this. In fact, I would appreciate being able to head down to some future kinkos and print out a replacement cell phone case, even if I could have one for pennies on the dollar if it was shipped over from Malaysia. I'm not (just) being an eco-hippie either. but I will just ignore the bit about mining. [1] http://www.innovaelec.com/ http://www.innovaelec.com/

mhd 15y ago
3D printing and electronics manufacturing strike me as two totally different animals for most applications. There's a lot of variation in cases and the like, so this is great if you need it right now, nobody has to keep a warehouse of that stuff and if you're doing something new (i.e. iterative design and development), the immediacy can't be beaten. This has a lot in common with POD books. For a computer like this, you simply don't gain a lot. It's mostly prefab components, with a bit of PCB and soldering. No big need for made-to-order, built from scratch items. You'd get almost nothing out of this, apart from a "support your local automated shop" deal. The eco impact of transport for electronics is negligible. Now, I'm not saying that there isn't a spot for "local electronics", but that would involve other devices, ones that are highly experimental, customizable and/or short run. If you'd get things like this (or an embedded systems) with oodles of different connectors, memory options, different processor subtypes, or open source hardware (probably FPGA based, to make it more reproducible). I've been dreaming about stuff like that since I read about "nano-facs" in the Cyberpunk RPG… But again, I don't see the big deal for the Raspberry. It makes sense to print a sole copy of "Best fly fishing sites for Llarregub Creek in late autumn" in your Kinko's, not to get a copy of the Bible or Harry Potter.
- rch 15y ago
  I see your point, but I'm specifically arguing in favor of supporting local shops, and I would be more than willing to pay more to do so. It is just a guess on my part, but I assume a custom fabricator might appreciate being able to produce a moderate, steady volume of commodity parts, based on open hardware specs (if they command a premium by virtue of being 'local'). And that same fab would then be more likely to be able to offer a custom model with, for instance, an integrated FPGA. I wouldn't expect many people to pay $6K when they could pay $3K, but $150 vs. $60? I think there's room for that.
  - eropple 15y ago
    I think you're well beyond optimistic and into wishful territory. Very, very few people are going to pay a 150% markup for their gadgetry because "it's local." You can't get people to pay a 100% markup on food, and that's going from four to eight bucks, not sixty to one-twenty. And whoever owns all that big expensive fabrication hardware has to be able to keep the lights on. (Yeah, a lot of tools have come down in price, but most of them don't manage the same level of quality of output and now you're asking them to pay multiples of what they could get elsewhere, for lesser-quality stuff.)
    - mhd 15y ago
      I think the markup would be even higher for this kind of manufacturing. What you'd need for truly "local" production is some kind of cheap shortcut. 3D printing uses this "bits of molten plastic" process, which isn't exactly industrial injection moulding, but workable enough. Book print-on-demand doesn't use offset, it uses relatively cheap and crappy laser and inkjet printing (and e.g. no hardcover as of yet). I can't think of any universally acceptable equivalent for electronics (common processor or FCPGA only work for a certain subset), and the plethora of different connections are beyond any sane automatic manufacturing concept. In addition, this would to be highly automated to be profitable, laden with patents and still quite huge. So it's quite likely that this will be run by a international chain, which kinda makes the "support your local electro-plutocrat" argument moot. Haven't seen someone calling for support to their local McDonalds… This needs some really big manufacturing breakthroughs to properly work, and given those, the whole world would look quite different. And we haven't even talked about regulations…
      - eropple 15y ago
        Hey, he was the guy saying 150%. Not me. ;) A buddy of mine said 500%+ and that's probably a lot closer.

by rch 15y ago

mhd 15y ago

3D printing and electronics manufacturing strike me as two totally different animals for most applications. There's a lot of variation in cases and the like, so this is great if you need it right now, nobody has to keep a warehouse of that stuff and if you're doing something new (i.e. iterative design and development), the immediacy can't be beaten. This has a lot in common with POD books. For a computer like this, you simply don't gain a lot. It's mostly prefab components, with a bit of PCB and soldering. No big need for made-to-order, built from scratch items. You'd get almost nothing out of this, apart from a "support your local automated shop" deal. The eco impact of transport for electronics is negligible. Now, I'm not saying that there isn't a spot for "local electronics", but that would involve other devices, ones that are highly experimental, customizable and/or short run. If you'd get things like this (or an embedded systems) with oodles of different connectors, memory options, different processor subtypes, or open source hardware (probably FPGA based, to make it more reproducible). I've been dreaming about stuff like that since I read about "nano-facs" in the Cyberpunk RPG… But again, I don't see the big deal for the Raspberry. It makes sense to print a sole copy of "Best fly fishing sites for Llarregub Creek in late autumn" in your Kinko's, not to get a copy of the Bible or Harry Potter.

rch 15y ago
I see your point, but I'm specifically arguing in favor of supporting local shops, and I would be more than willing to pay more to do so. It is just a guess on my part, but I assume a custom fabricator might appreciate being able to produce a moderate, steady volume of commodity parts, based on open hardware specs (if they command a premium by virtue of being 'local'). And that same fab would then be more likely to be able to offer a custom model with, for instance, an integrated FPGA. I wouldn't expect many people to pay $6K when they could pay $3K, but $150 vs. $60? I think there's room for that.
- eropple 15y ago
  I think you're well beyond optimistic and into wishful territory. Very, very few people are going to pay a 150% markup for their gadgetry because "it's local." You can't get people to pay a 100% markup on food, and that's going from four to eight bucks, not sixty to one-twenty. And whoever owns all that big expensive fabrication hardware has to be able to keep the lights on. (Yeah, a lot of tools have come down in price, but most of them don't manage the same level of quality of output and now you're asking them to pay multiples of what they could get elsewhere, for lesser-quality stuff.)
  - mhd 15y ago
    I think the markup would be even higher for this kind of manufacturing. What you'd need for truly "local" production is some kind of cheap shortcut. 3D printing uses this "bits of molten plastic" process, which isn't exactly industrial injection moulding, but workable enough. Book print-on-demand doesn't use offset, it uses relatively cheap and crappy laser and inkjet printing (and e.g. no hardcover as of yet). I can't think of any universally acceptable equivalent for electronics (common processor or FCPGA only work for a certain subset), and the plethora of different connections are beyond any sane automatic manufacturing concept. In addition, this would to be highly automated to be profitable, laden with patents and still quite huge. So it's quite likely that this will be run by a international chain, which kinda makes the "support your local electro-plutocrat" argument moot. Haven't seen someone calling for support to their local McDonalds… This needs some really big manufacturing breakthroughs to properly work, and given those, the whole world would look quite different. And we haven't even talked about regulations…
    - eropple 15y ago
      Hey, he was the guy saying 150%. Not me. ;) A buddy of mine said 500%+ and that's probably a lot closer.