Defoler t1_j8dqt73 wrote on February 13, 2023 at 3:42 PM

Has any DIY/open-souce/linux based portable machines ever really went successful beside a concept?
All those open phones, easy upgradeable laptops / mobile devices, has any of them actually succeeded?

Even if a new niche markets do accept them, it is never enough to really succeed.
It is a nice concept but I don't think it is going to really go on battle a multi trillion market against samsung/dell/lenovo/apple etc.

Notabug255 t1_j8dutma wrote on February 13, 2023 at 4:10 PM

But is battling them even a goal for open-source?

Defoler t1_j8egd5c wrote on February 13, 2023 at 6:36 PM

I think so.

I mean, you can release it as a niche, make some money, and then disappear as the project dies down. Mostly what most of those companies do.
But if you plan to stay relevant and make it long lived, you will want to take some part of the market. Even 0.01% is a big part of the market.

But even to reach that, you need to make people who buy a dell/whatever and put a linux on it, buy your platform instead. And if all they do is concept and open-source, I don't think it will ever really catch on beside maybe a few influences in that market who will make content out of it.

Besides, what is the point if you don't want to enter the market?

Notabug255 t1_j8fmrgc wrote on February 13, 2023 at 11:15 PM

I see your point, but maybe I just think differently. I don't think hitting the market necessarily needs to be a point of open-source or open-hardware. But this might just be about values and ideals, it really won't get widespread adoption unless people move into it after all.

Defoler t1_j8fprng wrote on February 13, 2023 at 11:36 PM

> I don't think hitting the market necessarily needs to be a point of open-source or open-hardware.

So what is the whole point if you don't want to be in a market?
Just releasing a concept is completely mute if there are no products, no pushing for the technology to be adopted.
It is like inventing a flying car, only not to actually make one. Yeah its cool you invented it. But... it is irrelevant if there are no actual flying cars to buy or use.

In order to move into it, you need products, support, something to drive people to move into it. That the people around them start using it, they start using it, more companies and more support, more hardware connectivity and more upgrade and support from different chip manufacturers.

Without any of that, it will be just like that cool replaceable modular mobile phone. Cool concept, irrelevant since it doesn't really exist. Did the idea drove anything? Did it have value? Not really. Anyone moved into it? No.
Same here. Why? Because no product existed to drive that market forward.

And just to drive that point in.
There was that company that made hand help little and terrible computers that did not last long not were any powerful.
But the did have a product, that sold a tiny bit compared to the whole market.
And it was the single thing that drove what we know today as a smartphone.
The palm pilot.
Why?
Because there was a product. They made them. They showed “see!? It can be done!”. And the market took notice, and to one company in particular. And the rest is our current time.
Do you think we would be here if it was just a concert with no application? Maybe but much later.