i kind of feel like someone should be reporting this, don't really understand how legal it is though.
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rochester, ny
Saskrotch wrote:
you guys are missing the real point of this, if you pledge 3,800 dollars YOU GET 2 ARDUINO BOYS, A MIDINES AND A CYNTHCART IN A RACK UNIT
i'll sell you 2 arduinoboys, a midines, and a cynthcart for just $3,000! you can save $800!!!
Saskrotch wrote:
i kind of feel like someone should be reporting this, don't really understand how legal it is though.
but seriously, i wonder about this too.
Last edited by nickmaynard (Jun 24, 2012 1:29 am)
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Sydney, NSW
Agreed, I'm sure there's something somewhere forbidding the use of all these projects for profit like this.
EDIT: Just watched the video. I love how they explain everything in detail.
Last edited by Chainsaw Police (Jun 24, 2012 1:53 am)
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as i have got older, i have noticed more and more how ready people are these days to slate a project, its very easy to pick holes in other people's work especially with the internet opening ideas up to the whole world.
but i don't see many people actually starting new things, in fact i think there are less people starting new projects because they are afraid of what people will say. I don't bother to make my projects public anymore because of how people react, especially people who couldn't even begin to understand how it all works.
with china undercutting labor costs, people assume that labor is free, they calculate the cost of parts it takes to make something and disregard the R and D costs, and assembly costs, and the intellectual value of the original idea. That kind of thinking leads to companies producing quantity not quality. everywhere you look there is cheap crap for sale, and as soon as something well built comes along people complain about its price.
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NeX wrote:
as i have got older, i have noticed more and more how ready people are these days to slate a project, its very easy to pick holes in other people's work especially with the internet opening ideas up to the whole world.
but i don't see many people actually starting new things, in fact i think there are less people starting new projects because they are afraid of what people will say. I don't bother to make my projects public anymore because of how people react, especially people who couldn't even begin to understand how it all works.
with china undercutting labor costs, people assume that labor is free, they calculate the cost of parts it takes to make something and disregard the R and D costs, and assembly costs, and the intellectual value of the original idea. That kind of thinking leads to companies producing quantity not quality. everywhere you look there is cheap crap for sale, and as soon as something well built comes along people complain about its price.
I totally agree with this. This business model is not only unsustainable; but it's Western elitist and is ruining lives. I actually get annoyed whenever I see things on ridiculous sales now; when I see a piece of clothing selling for $5 or less at Wal-mart all that means to me is that somehow they're managing to get labour cheap enough that even with costs of materials AND shipping they're STILL making a profit on it. It's the fair-trade coffee thing all over again. I've started trying to buy locally as much as I can; even though it's more expensive at least I know where it's coming from.
TL;DR: Expecting stuff to be really cheap is causing sweat-shop labour.
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Im part of the underclass that couldnt really afford things if they weren't made in china to offset the complete lack of consideration in allowing the average american income to keep pace with rampant inflation. If the chinese government wants to leverage the health of its people and long term future of its economy so if I can get jorts for $10, im not one to argue.
My problem with the synthboy is that it doesn't really seem all that practical for me as a performing musician. Its more of a studio fetish object to post on twitter about. Really wish they went with a more practical 1/3 ru design and allowed you to simply run a db9 cable instead of that stupid dock (which seems to really impede use of the dmg while it is in it), and there are troubling moral questions about the IP used to create this.
I would totally pay $$$ for a breakout box made right, but all things considered, I think I'll have to pass. Also $50 extra for the code and a ftdi header? No thanks.
Last edited by herr_prof (Jun 24, 2012 4:33 pm)
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Medina, Ohio
herr_prof wrote:
Im part of the underclass that couldnt really afford things if they weren't made in china to offset the complete lack of consideration in allowing the average american income to keep pace with rampant inflation. If the chinese government wants to leverage the health of its people and long term future of its economy so if I can get jorts for $10, im not one to argue.
My problem with the synthboy is that it doesn't really seem all that practical for me as a performing musician. Its more of a studio fetish object to post on twitter about. Really wish they went with a more practical 1/3 ru design and allowed you to simply run a db9 cable instead of that stupid dock (which seems to really impede use of the dmg while it is in it), and there are troubling moral questions about the IP used to create this.
I would totally pay $$$ for a breakout box made right, but all things considered, I think I'll have to pass. Also $50 extra for the code and a ftdi header? No thanks.
You can make it a breakout, just get a cable for in between the GB and the synthboy. The way it is designed allows both a dock, and breakout. And $50 for the code and an FTDI Header? You think thats a bad deal? well huh...well let me say IT'S NOT. Coding is tough, really tough, and tougher to debug. I believe it to be worth $50 to fund the passion put into the code 
I know this entire project is a bit pricey, and the chipmuisc community isn't your typical millionaire group, but I totally respect this project.
Last edited by dsv101 (Jun 24, 2012 5:23 pm)
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For code that should available for free, its a bad deal. I think the ability to update software is something that should be included stock with any product, even if they want to charge for the software. If they baked the cost into the full project, no one would notice but to tack it on feels like nickel and diming. To put it another way, what if Sony charged for firmware updates?
If its based on anything that is gpl'd it should be gpl'd. If it based 100% on unique code they should come out and say so. So that is a concern.
You cant rackmount a doughnut shaped dock is my other major complaint. I also dont understand if they made a pcb, why are the arduinos socket ed, why not just make it a all in one project? I'm not trashing the product, but if you put something out on the market you should expect user feedback, even if it is not solicited. It just feels like they frankensteined a bunch of different products together and it doesnt really advance the concept very far beyond what is already out there.
Last edited by herr_prof (Jun 24, 2012 6:07 pm)
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Tacoma WA
from a live stand point use it'd be a lot more useful if the gameboy sat differently.
great for pushing play i suppose.
also RCAs. why not 1/4?
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Douglas, Wyoming
It's a neat idea, but it would be a complete rip off of other's designs. Profiting off of another person's design is not cool at all, and probably illegal. That being said I really do enjoy the idea of a sleek arduino boy though, as it would be great for the less tech savvy or the lazy with a lot of money in their pockets. Now if they did get the consent and ownership rights to the original design, then it would be a different story. It seems like it would be fantastic for live sets.
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Indiana
It does seem to me that they are perhaps preying on ignorance to some degree. I wouldn't expect many musicians knowledgeable of chip culture to shell out ~$300 for a nicely manufactured Arduinoboy (let alone $3,800). I see the target audience for this being those who view "music on a gameboy" as a totally novel idea/function.
Even their original reference to LSDJ as a "tracker" program seemed to suggest you were getting something that didn't cost ~$5 elsewhere on the internet with a community of support.
That being said, it's difficult to attack their intention to profit from this project. Anybody who claims ownership and a right to profit from a modded piece of existing hardware is already walking in a fairly gray area. We are mostly protected by our obscurity. On the other hand, I don't think anybody would appreciate a design like the Arduinoboy being corporatized and mass-produced for profit somehow. These guys sort of walk the line.
All in all, I wish these guys well. If they can make a hefty sum of money from this project, I'm a bit jealous and perhaps a little sympathetic to the buyers. I know I would have been sorely tempted to buy one before I was familiar with chipmusic; it really is a very cool project.
tl:dr: It's a cool project, and it's difficult to condemn it on the grounds of ownership.
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uhajdafdfdfa
i'm sure people will "vote with their dollars" etc
at that price for an amalgamation of existing work i think it unlikely that they don't make a profit though
FUCK KICKSTARTER
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shanghai
i totally agree with Nex. You make good points mate. BUT, this i think is kind of marketed for hipsters of course. i mean the geeks of us aren't bothered with this kind of gimmicky thing. but its not aimed at us really. speaking for myslef i built my own arduinoboy with a kit from Nex, as im sure lots of others did. But there are tonnes of people without knowledge to even contemplate building something like this, and there are plenty of kids with fuck loads of cash to spend on stuff like this. even if they post the pic on twitter and never use it.
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These things always make me rethink the internet. I simply don't get it. They're at freaking $2,024 already!! Who is buying these things!? Why don't they come and give us money instead!?
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matt's mind
one of the t-shirt designs shows someone holding the gameboy, not having it docked, perhaps an extension cable is intended to be included.
otherwise the t-shirt design would not be capable...