Why Google Choosing Arduino Matters 118
ptorrone writes "Earlier this week at Google I/O, Google announced the Android Open Accessory kit which uses the open source hardware platform, Arduino. MAKE magazine has an in-depth article about why Google choosing the Arduino matters, why Google picked Arduino and some predictions about what's next for Apple's 'Made for iPod' as well and what Microsoft/Nokia/Skype should do to keep up."
Re:Lame (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:"magnetic core memory" extension board (Score:5, Insightful)
There is nothing intrinsically special about Arduino in the same way there is nothing intrinsically special about Ubuntu. The thing that makes them special is the communities that build around them helping each other.
This means that getting started with Arduino means I get to do cool stuff with microprocessors sooner. I actually implemented a link for fire panels over Ethernet using Arduino and some basic programming knowledge. I could have used a range of other systems to do the job but I selected Arduino because I could buy some of the "Shields" off the shelf and was able to make the rest using prototype boards.
Time to market 3 weeks. Experience before with Microprocessors 0 weeks.
Re:Ideal for commercial applications? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not Bad Analogy Guy so I'll be a bit more literal: The point of Arduino is precisely that dumbed down programming environment, it brings the concept of basically making something computerised (to a point) to an a MUCH larger group of people than before. Right now there are tons of people out there doing things with these chips, making all kinds of little hacks and projects, that would ordinarily have thought "Hey what if I could do X? Oh, too complicated, what a damn shame" and are instead thinking "An arduino could probably do that".
Now for anyone that really does know coding and how to work chips and whatnot giving them an Arduino and making them use it "normally" is like giving them Duplos, but it's still Strictly Better for everyone to have these kinds of easily accessible solutions around for all the people that DON'T know that kind of thing. Sure a lot of them basically just sit there in easy-mode and never go any deeper but others will learn more in time, and just having it THERE makes the concept that much more ubiquitous.
Re:Ideal for commercial applications? (Score:4, Insightful)
You just answered your own question, and you still don't understand?
"it comes with some dumbed down programming environment for people who don't want to use C/assembler."
Bingo!
How many people do you know that were taught assembler in school? I was taught because I was in an industrial electronics program, emphasis on industrial manufacturing and maintenance. I think they quit teaching assembler to CS students in the mid '80s, and quit teaching C soon after, shifting to C++/Java. How many people do you think were programming PCs when you had to flip switches, as compared to just typing it in and hitting enter?
CLUE: Make something convenient to use, and people will use it. Make it necessary, but inconvenient, and people won't. Are you sure you're smart enough to be allowed here?
Re:As someone who tried this... (Score:5, Insightful)
If we compare this to the car industry (as it used to be before it got all digified as well), there is/was a big industry making aftermarket parts - everything from brake shoes and taillights to radios. AFAIK nobody ever got sued by Ford for making a Ford-compatible steering wheel. I think the car makers basically felt that the accessory market (i.e. 'bells and whistles') helped their market. They were never particularly thrilled about aftermarket replacement parts, but they didn't stop it. Folks had, and still have, the choice to go to the dealer or go to NAPA - or JC Whitney. And sometimes it's better going to the dealer. Of course, while it's under warranty some things still have to be done by the dealer - but in most states the car makers can not disallow the warranty under if you get your oil change done by someone else.
Of course, that's changing nowadays. Here in MA, Toyota successfully fought off an attempt to pass a state law requiring car makers to release the computer repair codes to third party repair shops, so they could hook up their expensive diagnostic machines and find what was wrong. (I don't recall if this was a legislative thing or a court thing.)
While I agree that Apple may have the right to charge a toll for everyone crossing their bridge, I disagree that it's a good idea. Case in point was the recent article on /. about the demise of independent music because of Apple's 30% rake off the top. Another case in point - I haven't bought an Apple product since 1996, so that's about $30,000 worth of business they haven't gotten. I published software for the NeXT, and had Macs through the early 1990s, but I don't want to be locked into either them or MS. I want the on-ramps to the highway to allow ALL traffic that fits the lanes - I don't want separate ramps for MS, Apple, Google or whatnot.
Re:As someone who tried this... (Score:3, Insightful)
"Businesses who make money selling Apple connectors have to pay money to Apple. It's not onerous, it's business. "
The key point you are ignoring is that under Apple's system, Apple holds *all* the cards. If you invest millions of dollars developing a new innovative accessory and they think it is a threat to them, or if they decide they'd rather sell it under their brand, then they will shut you down and you have no recourse thanks to the agreements you have signed. Yes this is "just business", but that don't mean it is *good* business and Google have just upped the ante fairly significantly. People used to dismiss Linux as an embedded platform all the time with a similar argument to yours and now Linux completely dominates the market, so the idea of open in the device space is already proven.