From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from snark.thyrsus.com (static-71-162-243-5.phlapa.fios.verizon.net [71.162.243.5]) by huchra.bufferbloat.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0E6FA200627 for ; Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:02:42 -0700 (PDT) Received: by snark.thyrsus.com (Postfix, from userid 1000) id EEC3F40617; Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:02:25 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:02:25 -0400 From: "Eric S. Raymond" To: Patrick Maupin Message-ID: <20120312220225.GA18256@thyrsus.com> References: <20120312210345.GC17357@thyrsus.com> <20120312213723.GD17895@thyrsus.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit In-Reply-To: Organization: Eric Conspiracy Secret Labs X-Eric-Conspiracy: There is no conspiracy User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.21 (2010-09-15) Cc: thumbgps-devel@lists.bufferbloat.net Subject: Re: [Thumbgps-devel] Build vs. modify vs. what should we be doing anyway? X-BeenThere: thumbgps-devel@lists.bufferbloat.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.13 Precedence: list Reply-To: esr@thyrsus.com List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2012 22:02:42 -0000 Patrick Maupin : > On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 4:37 PM, Eric S. Raymond wrote: > > Good point.  Then, though, we're dealing with the risk that our supplier > > will EOL the product we're blue-wiring.  I can tell you from experience > > that consumer-grade GPSes like these have ridiculously short lifetimes. > > Which is why the most important thing is to get the process down of > identifying what works and be able to vet a new device quickly. As I > explained in my original posting, even high-dollar modules can get > EOLed, and then you're out money on your PCB blanks. I believe that. But I also know some things about this corner of the market that tend to reassure me on thast score. 1. The NRE on GPS modules (like the SparkFun GP2106) is a lot higher than it is on the PCBs and enclosures for the consimer products. 2. Accordingly, they have longer product lifetimes. So by dropping down a level we'd trade higher up-front costs for a substantial reduction in supply-chain volatility. -- Eric S. Raymond