[TenTec] TT (Orion) Future improvements!!!

[Martin AA6E]

Lee,

You're overlooking that Microsoft is a software company and Apple is a
hardware company, mostly.  In the future, both may be media companies,
but that's another story.

It is important for any business to know what business it is in.  TT
excels in RF and DSP hardware. (long pause)

TT has done panel-less radios, and they get credit for trying, but I
don't believe they sold very well.  The market is not ready for pure
radios-as-computer-peripherals, even though many of us like that
approach.

The radio-as-a-special-form-of-PC may be a better way.  See
http://www.computeradio.us/DR1.htm for example.  A radio with PCI
slots, USB and Ether jacks.  Most importantly, an open software
interface so that 3rd parties can build on the full power of the RF/IF
systems.

Any good company has to focus on the market.  Who's going to buy ultra
high-end SDR products?  Is it better to produce an Orion/7800 in a PC
for $5K or to produce a 718 in a PC for $500?  Or a set of do it
yourself, mix & match, plugin PCI cards?

For myself, I hope the entrepreneurs out there don't focus too much on
making boxes that try to be the best at everything on day one.  Give
the user community the open toolset and watch the flowers bloom.

73, Martin AA6E

--- Lee Crocker <w9oy at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I would have no problem running a front panel-less
> Orion.  ...
> 
> This is basically what Microsoft did compared to
> Apple.  Apple tried to own the entire spectrum of the
> computer from the hardware to the software to the
> monitor, the entire experience.  ...