[Oberon] oberonstation vs. a $9 computer

[Lars]

On Tue, February 9, 2016 8:42 am, Magnus Karlsson wrote:
> Ken, you are very close to the actual numbers.
>
>
> A few comments:
> * The iCE40 series is not an option - too small both in cell count and
> pin count.  Even the Xilinx Spartan6 in 144 QFP package wont have enough
> pins so you have to go BGA which will increase the assembly cost.
>* You
> have to build at least 100 boards to get a reasonable assembly cost, which
> will tie up something like $10000 in capital.  If you are lucky you will
> sell all of the boards or you will get stuck with unsold inventory. * The
> assembly house typically have a one-time setup cost (stencils, p&p
> programming etc.) at typically around $300 (or $3 per board if you build
> 100).
> * PayPal or the credit card processor will take about 3% cut or about $3
> for a $100 board * Don't forget packaging materials like shipping box,
> padded bags etc. * There will be some non-functional boards.  What if a
> board gets lost or damaged in shipping, who will pay for that? * You need
> to build prototypes to make sure the design is good before starting
> production.  Components and PCBs for the prototypes will cost you $500 -
> $1000 and those boards really can't be sold.
> * You need to put in several man-weeks of design time to make it happen.
>
>
> So hopefully it's quite clear that selling a board like Pepino LX9/1MB
> that will run Oberon RISC5 right out of the box for $99.95 is not driven
> by
> a desire to make money but rather an effort to make such a board available
> at a reasonable cost so that others have the opportunity to venture into
> the world of Oberon RISC5 and FPGAs in general.
>

Neither is the Orange Pi One much of an effort to make money, considering
it costs $15, and a regular orange pi costs around $20-$30...

However, I doubt that the world ever doesn't involve money in it's
process. Example: I bet Wirth wrote some books so he could eat food, i.e.
use the money from his books to fund his cheese/wine habits, and hopefully
spinach soon when he discovers "strings".

Really though, I bet Orange Pi one for $15 is still pulling in a small
profit so the chinese companies (or whoever makes them) are able to buy
food for the factory workers. Everything requires money. Even educational
institutions which offer supposed "free education" like Norway, are not
free at all. This was discussed by Milton Friedman "there is no free
lunch". i.e. Wirth has to eat some how, and the supplier of Oberon station
somehow has to eat food, to live. If he dies, he can't ship the product.

A lot of people release "Free source code" online, but it's not free at
all. It's subsidized by money some how, such as Google paying a developer
to work on an "open source" project.


> For more info about Pepino LX9/1MB see
> http://saanlima.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=64
>
>

Thanks, I will study.

Regards, Lars
Don't worry I'm not a libertarian kook.