9$ computer

[frenky]

What do you guys think of this?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598272670/chip-the-worlds-first-9-computer

Make video:


I wanted to pledge at 9$ but shipping to SLO (EU) is 20$ so to me that is a deal breaker...

[janoc]

Don't bother. For what they advertise it for (office, games, etc.) it is underpowered (A13 and 512MB RAM is really low for Linux and that type of workload) and most likely similar modules will show up on Aliexpress/Alibaba later. Moreover, you will wait a year (at least) to get one, according to their schedule.

The only thing going for this is the cuthroat price - the A13 SoCs alone sell for about $5/piece, so I am not sure how they are planning to fit everything into that $9 price point ...

[Wh1sper]

The Pocket thingy sounds cool

[donotdespisethesnake]

The only thing going for this is the cuthroat price - the A13 SoCs alone sell for about $5/piece, so I am not sure how they are planning to fit everything into that $9 price point ...

That puzzles me too - I will wait and see on this one.

[frenky]

This might explain the price:

At the same time they were meeting with Allwinner and explaining their aspirations for a dirt-cheap computer, Allwinner was looking to redesign their successful A13 processor in a new, smaller form factor as a cheaper system-on-chip. It is this new chip, called the R8, that Next Thing received early access to and used in its board design.

http://makezine.com/2015/05/07/next-thing-co-releases-worlds-first-9-computer/

[Prime73]

I was excited at first. however and it turns out for a $9 thingy they ask $20 shipping (to Canada). I'll pass...
and that's how they probably make it "cheap"

[lutkeveld]

That's only with international shipping, as pointed out in the FAQ. They're working on it.
Don't know why a simple envelop would cost so much to ship.....

[dr.diesel]

They claim completely open with Allwinner,                 

[free_electron]

and wait for the 'binary blob' shitstorm to commence ...

[notzippy]

I was excited at first. however and it turns out for a $9 thingy they ask $20 shipping (to Canada). I'll pass...
and that's how they probably make it "cheap"

Ditto here, I was like WTF I clicked the $9 pledge didn't I ....

[rickey1990]

Good price, but tbh little bit too small for me, I have a ongoing project with a old sega master system, using a £22 banana pi http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2015-New-Single-Board-Computer-Hardware-Product-Accessary-Dual-Core-1GB-DDR3-Banana-Pi/32271121792.html , project wise iv found it great, at first i only wanted a retro gaming console then i went abit over the top .



1 Original sega controller port
5 powered usb 2 ports
Bluetooth
HDMI
Blue-ray quality video streaming - netfix
Tv remote input
Ipod music player dock
WIFI
All console buttons are rewired
Floppy disk drive
CDrom/dvd rewritable disk drive
80gb hard-drive
1gb ram, dual core.
Operating system - Android.
10,000 roms - nes,snes,sega master system,megadrive,gb,gbc,gba,n64,psx (some wii games)


http://beambuilder.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/my-projects.html

[FrankenPC]

I like the screen/keyboard shield.  That brings it up to about $50 if I read that right.

Here's the thing...  For $25 I can go to Ebay and find a really good used cell phone.  First one I found:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorola-Droid-X2-MB870-verizon-smartphone-clean-ESN-black-/141187012224?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20df66d680

$25 dollars.  A TON of toys in one compact package!  High powered processor.  Internal flash.  Camera.  Insane touch screen.  Built in battery.  Every type of radio conceivable.  It's so much for so little.  All we need is something USB/Bluetooth-y to act as a I/O interface and you have a fantastic Linux based platform. 

It seems to me that we should all be looking at how we can keep recycling all these consumer electronics for hobby/robotics use.  Save the environment.  Have real hardwarepower. 

[EEVblog]

Don't know why a simple envelop would cost so much to ship.....

a) Not legal to ship as a letter
b) They won't survive

[lutkeveld]

How about those packets that fit through the mailbox?

[mikeselectricstuff]

At that price they must be getting the SoC for nearly free - my guess is the manufacturer is dumping their over-production  before it gets replaced by a newer version.

I really don't see the point in doing something that cheap - nobody can be  making any money out of it, and it hurts the market in general by being unfair competition. I almost hope they discover that they are actually losing money and it all goes tits-up, as an example to others.
For most people buying 1-offs for hobby use it wouldn't make a difference whether it was $9 or $19.

A simple solution to the shipping cost issue is to sell packs of 5 - cost would be little or no more, and buyers could effectively become local micro-distributors by selling on to friends & colleagues.

[janoc]

How about those packets that fit through the mailbox?

Those may not be standard world-wide. For example, I know that the French post doesn't allow the "Lettre Max" (or what used to be called that way) to be sent abroad, those were offered only for local French service.

So they may not have a choice, really, only to send as a small package - and that can cost arm and leg internationally even for small packages, unless you are sending a lot of it and have special deal with the shipping company/postal service. So $20 for overseas shipment with insurance and tracking is not really that unusual, at least if they are getting normal retail rate.
 

[abigbell]

9$ computer! no shit.

and I like the PDA style, like the $500 blackberry passport .

toy price deserve a toy functionality. you really can't expect too much from that.

[Fantasma25]

It would be cool to make a portable sampler module (like this one http://www.roland.com/products/soniccell/) with it

[eas]

I like the screen/keyboard shield.  That brings it up to about $50 if I read that right.

Here's the thing...  For $25 I can go to Ebay and find a really good used cell phone.  First one I found:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorola-Droid-X2-MB870-verizon-smartphone-clean-ESN-black-/141187012224?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20df66d680

$25 dollars.  A TON of toys in one compact package!  High powered processor.  Internal flash.  Camera.  Insane touch screen.  Built in battery.  Every type of radio conceivable.  It's so much for so little.  All we need is something USB/Bluetooth-y to act as a I/O interface and you have a fantastic Linux based platform. 

Sometimes, some people just want to be able to buy something and get started with their project. Selecting and buying a used cell phone is sort of a small project in itself, rooting the phone and installing a suitable firmware is another project. That's fine if thats the kind of project you want, but thats not what everyone wants.

It seems to me that we should all be looking at how we can keep recycling all these consumer electronics for hobby/robotics use.  Save the environment.  Have real hardwarepower.

I'm all for more re-use, but...

[jonese]

Didn't AllWinner have GPL compliance issues on a past product? I don't think that was resolved. 

Not getting my money until it's been properly open sourced as promised.

[mikerj]

For most people buying 1-offs for hobby use it wouldn't make a difference whether it was $9 or $19.

Exactly this, it's just a pointless race to the bottom.

[Esposch T. Tapir]

Wow, that's actually really impressive.
Yeah, the specs are a bit shit, but it's a full computer for $9.  Compatible with old CRT TVs too.
Could see this being big in those places where people are earning $9 a day...

Even for us developed world folks, though, you get an insanely powerful micro with USB, Bluetooth, WiFi and connectors for the same cost as an Arduino.

I can see this thing being big...

[andersm]

These boards live and die by their support, and I'm not convinced they will be able to build a community that even approaches what the Beagle boards and Raspberries have.

[donotdespisethesnake]

I can see this thing being big...

Definitely, it has now appeared on BBC website. Headed for $4 million according to Kicktraq, those projections are just ballpark.

Crowdfunds demonstrate the simple principle of the supply-demand curve, the lower the price the higher the demand.

[Muxr]

These boards live and die by their support, and I'm not convinced they will be able to build a community that even approaches what the Beagle boards and Raspberries have.

If they can manage to survive by selling them for $9 a pop the community will spring up on its own. Just look at the ESP8266 compared to CC3200.

I doubt that $9 per unit is a sustainable business model though.