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For hackers that can build your own pieces from scratch, I'd say--because it cuts down on your development time. By analogy I can definitely write my own mappi
by iamwil 19y ago
For hackers that can build your own pieces from scratch, I'd say--because it cuts down on your development time. By analogy I can definitely write my own mapping widget in javascript, but if I'm trying out a concept where building a mapping widget isn't the point (but rather an app that showed me where my friends are), it would be prudent to try it out w/ the google maps API first. So if there's something that I can snap together using Bug, I'd do that first, and only go to soldering boards if it's something I can't do with Bug. And if the concept doesn't work, I can unsnap it, rather than unsolder chips.
For the other types of geeks...not all software developers are hardware people nowadays. Not that you need to be, but not knowing hardware puts things like mobile devices that aren't phones, sensor networks, and RFIDs out of your reach. Having a platform like Bug frees you from having to know it if what you need to do fits in Bug's framework.
It's true that most of what they have appeals to builder geeks. Will it be something your non-geek friends would use? That remains to be seen, but they seem to be creating an environment that allows freedom to create things their non-geek friends would want. If the geeks make stuff where a Bug brick's functionality can be modular and snapped on without requiring programming, then that might be a possibility.
I think a lot of hardware people are looking to open up the hardware world like they see going on in the software world. This is one interpretation of what open hardware might look like.
No problem, since it challenges my own thinking. Thanks for being clear headed and courteous about it.
- Tichy 19y agoI actually applied to the last YC round with an open source hardware idea (rejected, though), so I am very interested in the field. However, I was rather thinking on the lines of somebody to use 3d printing technology to create a prettier casing for Minty MP3 ( http://www.ladyada.net/make/minty/index.html http://www.ladyada.net/make/minty/index.html ) to make it a real alternative to the iPod shuffle. I want to see really cool open phones, not the locked up crap that is still being sold today. So I guess I am just a bit disappointed that Bug won't help here (except with the prototyping, maybe). Still, there are other exciting developments, like printable electronics, which all compete with the Bug. If I see something cool come out of the Bug thing, it will only make me happy. Btw., the Bug reminds me a lot of the Khepera robot (http://www.k-team.com/kteam/index.php?site=1&rub=3&page=197&version=EN http://www.k-team.com/kteam/index.php?site=1&rub=3&p...) which actually with it's modular concept was/is a very successful product in academic circles. So who knows, perhaps the business is viable after all.
- iamwil 19y agoDespite all the ruckus in the echo chamber about social networks, ajax, web2.0, I there's lots of other areas to explore that don't seem to get mentioned often--open source hardware being one of them. Lots of pieces are moving into place to make it more of a reality, but in my opinion, it's not quite there yet. Thanks for the heads up about khepera. I'll have to look into it.