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However software is becoming commoditised, while hardware is now appearing to involve quite a degree of inventiveness, a characteristic following from the growt

by gregsq 14y ago

However software is becoming commoditised, while hardware is now appearing to involve quite a degree of inventiveness, a characteristic following from the growth in low powered ARM devices, among others. You can get a Som board with a Texas Instruments Omap 5, say from Phytec, running, well Android or Linux, or maybe a Exynos 5 running, well, Android or Linux. Or a plethora of others doing the same thing, like Raspberry Pi. From the hardware viewpoint, it could be said that you do indeed eat the OS.

nileshtrivedi 14y ago
I think it's only the software infrastructure (like operating systems, languages/compilers, libraries and frameworks) that's becoming commoditised. The market for actual solutions remains vibrant as ever. Be it automated car-driving or 3D-printing, or payment gateways, there is no commoditization for apps for new problems.
- gregsq 14y ago
  Absolutely. On these devices the OS or even RTOS's for them are just the basis for further coding to accomplish this different conception of value added functionality. But unlike, say an iOS app, which leverages an underlying software platform ( running even on outstanding hardware ), these hardware efforts leverage the power of the devices and their peripherals. It's all back to C ( or maybe assembler or C++ ), and the code is more and more a facilitator for the hardware's value. I should make myself clear that I'm thinking about hardware solutions that differ from current consumer products in the main, such as general purpose computers, or tablets and phones and so on. But you're absolutely right that anything programmable requires software.
skreech 14y ago
Definitively agree that the OS is becoming a commodity, and there's a lot of exciting hardware coming out. I think the software related value gains in non-tech industries are higher in the stack, on the application and integration levels. Amazon wouldn't be much if not for integration, for example.

by gregsq 14y ago

nileshtrivedi 14y ago

I think it's only the software infrastructure (like operating systems, languages/compilers, libraries and frameworks) that's becoming commoditised. The market for actual solutions remains vibrant as ever. Be it automated car-driving or 3D-printing, or payment gateways, there is no commoditization for apps for new problems.

gregsq 14y ago
Absolutely. On these devices the OS or even RTOS's for them are just the basis for further coding to accomplish this different conception of value added functionality. But unlike, say an iOS app, which leverages an underlying software platform ( running even on outstanding hardware ), these hardware efforts leverage the power of the devices and their peripherals. It's all back to C ( or maybe assembler or C++ ), and the code is more and more a facilitator for the hardware's value. I should make myself clear that I'm thinking about hardware solutions that differ from current consumer products in the main, such as general purpose computers, or tablets and phones and so on. But you're absolutely right that anything programmable requires software.

skreech 14y ago

Definitively agree that the OS is becoming a commodity, and there's a lot of exciting hardware coming out. I think the software related value gains in non-tech industries are higher in the stack, on the application and integration levels. Amazon wouldn't be much if not for integration, for example.