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[mainiac]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598272670/chip-the-worlds-first-9-computer/description

Sadly mine wont ship until January but still it's pretty darn cool.  Maybe I'll give all my siblings computers for their birthdays next year

[MaximumZero]

That's pretty sweet. Wish I had the cash to back.

[Aqizzar]

I recently bought a complete desktop computer for $20: a 2001 model iMac.  It's all about perspective.

Considering every component they list in the design sells wholesale for a couple times $9, I really want to know where they're getting these parts and how they're assembling them.

[Aqizzar]

If you look towards the end, they specify that they save money by buying in novelty-bulk sizes.

Like I said, even at the best Chinese wholesale prices, you'd be hard pressed to assemble all those parts cheap enough to turn a profit.  My guess is they found a line on some discontinued manufacturing or something, and they're banking on making enough money to line up other suppliers later.

More importantly, I want to know who's assembling these computers.  Seriously doubting a dozen American artists are going to be cranking out these computers in enough bulk for their business model to work.

[mainiac]

They're getting them pre assembled from chinese low-end smartphone manufacturers.

The thing about comparing these components to retail, even online retail is that with retail there's a minimum price to justify selling the thing.  If you can get a wholesale supplier interested you can undercut them.  I remember back in college when I was on a group project that was designing a radiator as a class project.  We eventually realized that the cheapest way to buy one of the components of the radiator would be to go to Costco, buy a radiator and disassemble it just to get that part.

Or consider the power jack I recently bought for my laptop.  I paid 2 dollars for it despite the fact that the manufacturing cost was probably about 15 cents.  The vast majority of the cost is the cost of keeping the item in stock and selling it.  Of course shipping is even more expensive then that...

tl;dr: the per unit cost for a manufacturer is way below $9, it's the fixed costs that mean you couldn't buy these parts individually for that price.

[Cthulhu]

My dad works with a guy who buys car and tractor parts direct from manufacturer for less than a dollar and sells them for upwards of 30 dollars.  That sounds pretty shitty until you find out the dealership charges more than a hundred.

9 dollars for a lightweight comput like this doesn't seem that out of line at all, especially if they're buying in bulk from china.

[a1s]

Also, note that $9 gets you just a bare-bones chip, no cables, no keyboards, (possibly no video card, depending on what "adapter" means, seeing as how it doubles the price.) I'd say $9 is only there to entice people, and really they expect to be making $19 a set. (which is doable, Raspbery has been selling for $50 for ages now)

[Rose]

yeah, looking at the page, the videocard is separate and clips onto it.

[BlitzDungeoneer]

This seems neat. PTW

[Gigaz]

That sounds like something I totally don't need but which might be really great for people in developing countries.

[Zrk2]

That sounds like something I totally don't need but which might be really great for people in developing countries.

This is where I see it shining. I don't think a $9 computer will find a market in the developed world, but in Africa or something, it could be incredibly useful.

[martinuzz]

The should add a solar charger too. That'd make it even more attractive for developing countries (at least the warm and sunny ones)

[SirQuiamus]

...both C.H.I.P. and PocketC.H.I.P. are both TOTALLY OPEN SOURCE. This means all hardware design files schematic, PCB layout and bill of materials are free for you the community to download, modify and use.

We've worked very closely with the amazing team at Allwinner Technology to insure that all the necessary documentation and source code for the System on Chip and Power Management Chips used in C.H.I.P. will be available for the community to use and learn from.

Given that their computer is based on proprietary technology, making all the hardware and firmware open-source must have taken a whole lot of work (and money). Allwinner is really listed as an ARM licensee, so I guess they've managed to strike up a contract that makes it possible, but it's anyone's guess how much they had to pay for it. The RPi Foundation never managed to make their device completely open-source, so it's definitely a big step forward for FOSS fanatics if the makers of CHIP have got it worked out. 

[penguinofhonor]

.

[Aqizzar]

If they're getting these premade from China, what is the Kickstarter for? "Buy this Chinese product that already exists"?

Kinda sounds that way.  A lot of Kickstarters are basically just advertizing programs that generate money instead of costing it.