[mythtv-users] Why cant we make a STB?

[Brian Wood]

On Thursday 05 February 2009 15:52:05 Mark Knecht wrote:

>
> I'm an EE. I worked in Silicon Valley for about 25 years before I
> bailed 5 years ago. I did mostly chip design and managed chip design
> groups but for about 2 years managed a group that also did board
> design for the chips we developed.
>
> My #1 input on this sort of thing is that most folks probably don't
> have a clue about either the amount of time it takes or the costs of
> doing hardware design - even board level design. It seems simpe and
> straight forward until you really get into it. Chip specs are one
> thing, but there's the cost of tools, the cost of manufacturing
> boards, the cost of assembling boards, the costs of building systems
> around those boards, the costs of testing, and then the costs of
> revisions because a bunch of folks like us on the list aren't going to
> do it perfectly the first time. It's expensive, takes a LONG time and
> a lot of money, and when you get done and it's built and working the
> market has moved on and our design is underpowered and overpriced.
> Your market for selling these things is always smaller than you think
> due to features in the design and compitition.
>
> The best thing someone can do from a price POV is to use standard
> parts to build the hardware and buy in quantity. Buy 100 motherboards,
> 100 video cards. Show some sales guy at NewEgg that you're serious
> about making a product that he can sell you parts for once it's in
> production. Configure Myth around that hardware and make it turn key
> for the user. Even if the price is a bit higher support from a
> community like this may make the difference in terms of actually
> selling it. Sell it to everyone subscribed to the list for $300 or
> $400. Get a reputation that it actually works. Bring in some money and
> then, ONLY THEN, worry about the cheapest cost or doing something
> custom.
>
> Just my 2 cents. I've been there multiple times.

I agree with most of what you say. If anything you have understated what's 
involved in building a product.

I certainly would not even consider buying components in industrial quantities 
from NewEgg or anyone like them. They are geared to selling to consumers, at 
large markups. 

There are distributors that specialize in selling in quantity to OEMs, NewEgg 
is not one of them.

-- 
beww
beww at beww.org