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They're letting my imagination run away with me. Imagine: A tablet form factor with a documented electrical interface for magnetic attachments (like an MS Surf

by gary_0 3y ago

They're letting my imagination run away with me. Imagine: A tablet form factor with a documented electrical interface for magnetic attachments (like an MS Surface style keyboard) that can run Android or Linux, or be repurposed for embedded or IoT touch interfaces. A NUC or Raspberry Pi type device with a beefy AMD SoC inside, with optional battery support. Maybe it's thin and light enough that it could have snap-on touchscreen and gaming attachments that Lego together into a custom Steam Deck. A solid TV without any built-in advertising junk, maybe running Android. The chassis, display panel, controller board, CPU board, and remote control can be purchased separately, of course. A sleek and repairable smartphone where you can even replace the stock Android with Linux, where all the peripherals are documented and have open drivers, so with the right software you can have a Linux phone that doesn't suck.

pzo 3y ago
I hope kind of all in one nuc device that can be a hackable: router,local media + backup, smart speaker, smart TV, wireless charger pad. Currently you have to buy separate device and update each time there is wifi 6, wifi 6e or wifi7 spec bump. Also most of the time no reason to have a dedicated smart tv and smart speaker if speaker can be just magnetic attachment
wishfish 3y ago
That's a good list. Would be interesting if they followed in the footsteps of Pine (Pinephone, Pine64, Pine book) but with higher quality products. Would imagine Fairphone would be an inspiration as well. If I had to pick any one of those things specifically, it would be the NUC. MiniPCs seem fairly popular these days. But many of them come from Chinese companies with varying degrees of quality and support. Seems like there's an opening. Especially since Framework already sells a MiniPC of sorts: the CoolerMaster case + mainboard. Something with a premium case, customizable ports, and upgradeable RAM + SSD, would be a perfect fit for what they're already doing.
hawski 3y ago
If they would do a small low-power SBC it would be great if it could be used as an alternative main-board for a Framework laptop. Fill out the remaining space with additional battery.
safety1st 3y ago
How about they just make the laptop available to the other 75% of the world's population? When they launched three years ago I was super excited and told everyone about them, I really believed in what they were doing. Granted it wasn't available in my country but surely they'd work on that right? Three years later, not only have they failed to expand their geography meaningfully, but they've been utterly silent on the topic, there's no roadmap or sign of interest from them, and they go as far as to delete posts on their forums about forwarding laptops to unsupported countries. They just don't care about the rest of the world it seems. It's hard to not become bitter as the years march on. We will never have Framework where I live, it seems. Guess I'm being petty but I'm slipping into the "fuck this company" camp.
- mihaic 3y ago
  Same for me. I can easily see some Chinese competitor figuring out distribution and simply crushing them if they don't have a global brand, Oppo-style.
  - safety1st 3y ago
    Welp, this prompted me to start Googling. Turns out there are at least two other companies out there which are aiming for the same market segment (a repairable, upgradeable laptop that's Linux friendly). They're sell laptops called the StarBook and the PrimeBook Circular. StarLabs will sell me a StarBook in my local currency online today. The process of saying goodbye to Framework has begun, before they ever even allowed me to say hello... The funny thing is that virtually all of these small laptop makers I've seen will sell a laptop to someone pretty much anywhere in the world, simply with caveats that you need to make sure you get the right power adapter (not that this is really an issue anymore now that USB C charging exists), you won't have local warranty service etc. Framework is the only one that seems to hate 75% of the human race and actively prevent them from buying its product.
    - ericswpark 3y ago
      I got curious and searched up your examples. While the StarBook looks like the most compelling alternative to the Framework laptop with coreboot and good repairability they don't seem to feature any modular ports, which is arguably what sells the Framework laptop for some people. Even for me, the thought of being able to swap out a USB-C charge port for a SD card reader is very appealing. The other one, the PrimeBook Circular, doesn't appear to be on sale anymore? Their website is gone and an empty parking page loads.
treprinum 3y ago
NUC is commoditized by super cheap N100/N305 products from China.
DanHulton 3y ago
God, I'd buy a Framework TV, easily. There just aren't any good options out there otherwise, if all you want is a damn TV and not a whole "smart media centre" that will either show you extra ads out of the box or be updated eventually to do so.
rpgbr 3y ago
>A solid TV without any built-in advertising junk, maybe running Android. You can only have one of them, I guess, or is there an Android TV without ad junk?
retrochameleon 3y ago
Would love an open and dumb TV. A phone would also be nice.

by gary_0 3y ago

pzo 3y ago

I hope kind of all in one nuc device that can be a hackable: router,local media + backup, smart speaker, smart TV, wireless charger pad. Currently you have to buy separate device and update each time there is wifi 6, wifi 6e or wifi7 spec bump. Also most of the time no reason to have a dedicated smart tv and smart speaker if speaker can be just magnetic attachment

wishfish 3y ago

That's a good list. Would be interesting if they followed in the footsteps of Pine (Pinephone, Pine64, Pine book) but with higher quality products. Would imagine Fairphone would be an inspiration as well. If I had to pick any one of those things specifically, it would be the NUC. MiniPCs seem fairly popular these days. But many of them come from Chinese companies with varying degrees of quality and support. Seems like there's an opening. Especially since Framework already sells a MiniPC of sorts: the CoolerMaster case + mainboard. Something with a premium case, customizable ports, and upgradeable RAM + SSD, would be a perfect fit for what they're already doing.

hawski 3y ago

If they would do a small low-power SBC it would be great if it could be used as an alternative main-board for a Framework laptop. Fill out the remaining space with additional battery.

safety1st 3y ago

How about they just make the laptop available to the other 75% of the world's population? When they launched three years ago I was super excited and told everyone about them, I really believed in what they were doing. Granted it wasn't available in my country but surely they'd work on that right? Three years later, not only have they failed to expand their geography meaningfully, but they've been utterly silent on the topic, there's no roadmap or sign of interest from them, and they go as far as to delete posts on their forums about forwarding laptops to unsupported countries. They just don't care about the rest of the world it seems. It's hard to not become bitter as the years march on. We will never have Framework where I live, it seems. Guess I'm being petty but I'm slipping into the "fuck this company" camp.

mihaic 3y ago
Same for me. I can easily see some Chinese competitor figuring out distribution and simply crushing them if they don't have a global brand, Oppo-style.
- safety1st 3y ago
  Welp, this prompted me to start Googling. Turns out there are at least two other companies out there which are aiming for the same market segment (a repairable, upgradeable laptop that's Linux friendly). They're sell laptops called the StarBook and the PrimeBook Circular. StarLabs will sell me a StarBook in my local currency online today. The process of saying goodbye to Framework has begun, before they ever even allowed me to say hello... The funny thing is that virtually all of these small laptop makers I've seen will sell a laptop to someone pretty much anywhere in the world, simply with caveats that you need to make sure you get the right power adapter (not that this is really an issue anymore now that USB C charging exists), you won't have local warranty service etc. Framework is the only one that seems to hate 75% of the human race and actively prevent them from buying its product.
  - ericswpark 3y ago
    I got curious and searched up your examples. While the StarBook looks like the most compelling alternative to the Framework laptop with coreboot and good repairability they don't seem to feature any modular ports, which is arguably what sells the Framework laptop for some people. Even for me, the thought of being able to swap out a USB-C charge port for a SD card reader is very appealing. The other one, the PrimeBook Circular, doesn't appear to be on sale anymore? Their website is gone and an empty parking page loads.

treprinum 3y ago

NUC is commoditized by super cheap N100/N305 products from China.

DanHulton 3y ago

God, I'd buy a Framework TV, easily. There just aren't any good options out there otherwise, if all you want is a damn TV and not a whole "smart media centre" that will either show you extra ads out of the box or be updated eventually to do so.

rpgbr 3y ago

>A solid TV without any built-in advertising junk, maybe running Android. You can only have one of them, I guess, or is there an Android TV without ad junk?

retrochameleon 3y ago

Would love an open and dumb TV. A phone would also be nice.