Alex Freed wrote:
The problem is the apparent total lack of public's interest for the project. 48 hours after the announcement the web page was viewed 120 times, but exactly zero requests were made to get a board. So I guess production boards are not likely to happen. I'm a bit surprized because apparently the CF interface cards are selling real well. By board does everything pretty much the same PLUS is provides a virtual DOS 3.3 disk for software that is not ProDOS compatible. Maybe it's just too early to tell or maybe the world doesn't need it.
I share your surprise and can only wonder whether the CFFA has saturated the market. I notice "run 5" is supposedly the last run that is being done (more evidence that perhaps the market is saturated), and am currently considering (finally) purchasing the CFFA for that very reason. Not that I was quite ready to buy one just yet...
The buying public can be a funny bunch. Perhaps they're all waiting for the first batch of "guinea pigs" to try it out? Perhaps they don't think your adapter looks as "sexy" as the CFFA? It hasn't got the "street cred" of the CFFA. Perhaps they're concerned the process is a little "raw" at the moment and would be more interested if drag-n-drop GUI tools were available???
I wouldn't get too discouraged just yet! Developing for a niche market is always going to be 'interesting'. I suspect that demand for such products is always going to be a steady trickle at best, rather than banking on pre-orders to fund a production run.
I've got several hardware projects in various stages ranging from conception through to actual prototypes produced myself - all very niche products - and *some* day I'm planning on getting some of them to a state where I can offer them to the public. However, I'm taking the attitude that if I break even, I'll be happy. I'm doing it for *my* enjoyment and the satisfaction I'll get out of it knowing that for at least a few others, I've increased the enjoyment of their 'retro' computing/gaming experience.
My $0.02...I say 'bite the bullet' and do a small production run! I'd do 20 PCBs and perhaps kit up 5 first-off and see how it goes. The most frustrating problem these days is buying parts in small quantities - and designing hardware without using parts with 1,000+ MOQ! I couldn't even get the *datasheet* for a particular video chip without the promise of ordering 10K parts!!!
Regards, Mark -- | Mark McDougall | "Electrical Engineers do it | <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug> | with less resistance!"