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Can 'Ready' Crowdfund a Raspberry Pi Cyberdeck Enclosure for Cyberpunk Enthusiasts? (kickstarter.com) 61

Posted by EditorDavid from the Ready-player-one dept.
There's 29 hours left in a Kickstarter campaign to fund "an open source, Linux-based, highly modular, customizable portable computer kit that accommodates anything from a Raspberry Pi to a Ryzen x86 4x4 single-board computer and more," writes READY!100: Reminiscent of 1980s executive portable computers, the READY! 100 is fully modern with 12 input output ports and 4 antenna ports. Perfect for hackers, ham radio operators, and audio/video folks, it can even be used with external graphics cards.
Engadget hailed it as "a Raspberry Pi enclosure for cyberpunk enthusiasts." Thanks to their diminutive size and low-power consumption, single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi can come in all shapes and sizes. We've seen DIY enthusiasts like Guy Dupont put a $10 Raspberry Pi Zero W into the shell of a 2004 iPod Classic to create a device that can access Spotify. But few are as cool as this recent Kickstarter project we spotted from a Toronto-based company called Ready! Computer Corporation.

The company's Ready! Model 100 is essentially a case for your single-board computer that includes a mechanical keyboard, stereo speakers, a touchscreen display and enough I/O ports to connect almost anything you need. The enclosure allows you to fit an SBC that's about the size of a 4x4 Intel NUC board. Oh, and you can carry it around with a guitar strap.

Basically, it allows you to build the cyberdeck of your dreams.
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Can 'Ready' Crowdfund a Raspberry Pi Cyberdeck Enclosure for Cyberpunk Enthusiasts? More

Can 'Ready' Crowdfund a Raspberry Pi Cyberdeck Enclosure for Cyberpunk Enthusiasts?

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  • This looks like it would be fun to use, lots of potential configurations.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Unfortunately I have little faith in them as their campaign seems mostly to be relying on "cyberdeck" sounding cool.

      Much more interesting is the Commander 16, a variation on the VIC20 hardware. It's far from perfect but does boot into BASIC.

    • So many permutations. One user designed a switch to switch between an internal Ryzen or Pi depending on the battery consumption and CPU needs. You can fit both in there....
  • This appears to have nothing to do with a Raspberry Pi. It's not even a custom enclosure for one.
    • Right, this is a Slashvertisement.
      • And as a long-term contributor to this site I'm kinda annoyed that despite having clicked on "Disable ads", I'm still seeing ads like this one.

        • The folks running /. are stupid because I am confident they aren't getting paid for this kind of advertisement. Consumerism has warped people's brains and they think going out and hawking wares is a socially acceptable thing to do. Back in the old days we did this to make a living, when you do it for fun, there is something seriously wrong with you.

          • Or perhaps some of the userbase does find this interesting? Do you complain about a headline for a new version of Oracle? Gmail being released? The raspberry Pi being released (and sold!!!)? These are all commercial announcements.

            Personally, I found this a pretty cool little project. I consider myself part of the Slashdot demographic. I helped make this project happen only because I saw it here. This helps someone else pay for their family, and the products and services they need help pay for other fam

      • Actually, it is not an advertisement it is just honest reporting. Likely, because the writer thinks we did something cool. I'm sorry you don't. FYI if it wasn't for this article, we would not have hit our target and 3 guys dream will have been flushed down the toilet. We should be praising this site for not taking big box bribery to quiet the small entrepreneur. I have no money to pay or bribe anyone for advertising or other. You know who does? Dell. LG. Acer. Slashdot is one of the last safe h
    • A custom enclosure is exactly what it is. We didn't coin the term cyberdeck, not in general and motni reference to our product. Our model is called the Cyberpunk that's the only link. It's more of a Streaming Deck than a Cyberdeck. This was not meant for a Cyborg apocalypse lol, it was mean because planned obsolescence and custom laptop parts are a pain and wasteful. This thing will last and uses all standard parts and connectors.
    • BTW we had to spend a lot of money on tool and dye to push aluminum directly through our N.A. made extruders. The we CNC the holes ourselves anodize and coat. Not sure how much more custom it gets then aluminum extrusion made from tools designed specifically for our vectors.

  • Why don't they figure out how to make a cheap display? Today an HD display costs $75 minimum. Meaning a RAspberry Pi computer minimum cost is $140 when you include SD card, power supply, enclosure, keyboard/mouse, and display. Someone needs to figure out how to make a $10 HD display.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hey! ( 33014 )

      Because you'd have to crowd fund a lot more than $200,000 bucks Canadian to do that.

    • Likely a function of the ultrawide configuration here which allows the case design to retain the shape of a "deck" while other attempts usually end up looking like a generic laptop with their 16x9 pop-open screens.

      Hackerboxes has included lcd and led displays in some of their kits (which are $40/mo IIRC), but they're usually of a limited color set or resolution while still being a pretty solid match for the intended project.

    • In addition, a battery to power it is always bulky.

    • Sure, let's get a bunch of nerds on Kickstarter on a task that LG and their $1.6billion R&D for display panel budget hasn't achieved yet.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • This is basically a toy for kids aged 12-14. Adults that actually have the desire to build a custom form factor electronics do-dad to fit their niche use-case are already making them without this kit. This is a pre-cut box, some pre-selected parts, and some consistent use of phillips-head fasteners, not much of a revolution.

    I bet he'll find enough people that want one though.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      Ew, Phillips? That's no Canadian.

    • Fair. But we can source you those parts cheaper by bulk ordering. Also as a first PC built, may as well make it a portable right ? ;-) We also plan to have a big registry/freeware community market for cool new applications, connectors, wiring etc...could be fun even for pros; especially music, ham and software guys...our original target market (shifted based on response).

  • Nice advert (Score:3)

    by wakeboarder ( 2695839 ) on Saturday February 27, 2021 @08:45PM (#61107120)

    Next time I do a Kickstarter project I'll get it on slashdot

  • This thing is just fucking cool looking. Want.

    • for those who werent there it looked loke this

      https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp... [arstechnica.net]

    • While the TRS 100 was one of the things I fantasized about as a kid, memorizing the Radio Shack catalog, I’m not that excited about this kickstarter project. It is cute and all... but actually getting the adapters to make use of the built-in panel mount jacks is a bit harder. I can’t quite imagine how you would go about making a pro audio level interface for the thing as an example.

      Then you get into the whole linux driver issue...

      • Now YOU get it. These are all universal D-MOUNT type connectors. You can get a $2 Keystone to fit on any of them. It is the opposite of what you infer. We built this to make Neutrik/Midi/RCA/1/4" super easy to jack in. THAT is the point, not this Cyberdeck stuff the market seems to be labelling us as.

        • I get the D-Mount panel, and the project is similar to something I did years ago with a Pelican box. The question I have is how does the magic work between that jack and a raspberry pi (or NUC). That piece is where the value is, at least for me, but getting a high-end DAC or whatever else to work properly just seems like an exercise in frustration.

      • Linux drivers are so fun to figure out...no? ðY£ðY£ðY£ Seriously though as people upload their rigs/configs/drivers we will share to our regiatry and it should get easy eventually.

  • Sounds like something for luddites who still say "cyber", usually as an attempt at "How do you do, fellow h4x0rs?" [giphy.com], like it's still 1999.

  • No

  • I think few people realize that Kickstarter "creators" are essentially under no obligation to spend even a dime of the money pleged toward the actual project. The creators have a contract with Kickstarter, not the pledgers, and Kickstarter has shown absolutely no interest in enforcing their side of the contract.

    Just to pick one as an example "ABC: Basic Connections". I saw it promoted on Hack a Day as basically a book that was essentially done and just needed to be printed. I didn't back it, but decided

    • Like any merchandise ever buyers should beware. Not only is READY! NOT A SCAM the owners are not even making money on the project (margin is 1.5%). The designs are free and published. Everything can be sourced independently or 3D printed. I guarantee you that not only will READY! Ship every unit on time, we will likely exceed expectations. I can understand your frustration with previous experiences.

      • Not only is READY! NOT A SCAM

        Yea, most of the failed Kickstarters use the "NOT A SCAM" in all caps at some point. If you really want to show it's not a scam, commit to a legally bind agreement with your backers that if you haven't shipped by a specific date, all accets will be liquidated and everyone will get their money back, and the "creators" get nothing.

        I've no doubt that most campaigns start with the best of intensions. But a total lack of any enforcable comitment to get things done doesn't provide proper motivation to get thing

  • I've been burned a number of times with Kickstarter campaigns.

    I understand that there are times when a campaign fails due to unforeseen circumstances, but Kickstarter does nothing for those companies that just take the money and ghost their backers.

    I couldn't even a response from Kickstarter about a campaign that just went silent with more than $750k of backer money. Nobody could.

    As much as I'd love to have one of these for purely novelty purposes, I'll wait until it goes into production and buy it then

    • Most Kickstarter campaigns are backed heavily by people that have used Kickstarter before. 35% of our orders came from consumers that LOVE Kickstarter and have bought 5 or more Kickstarter products in the past. Would you prefer everyone just shop at Walmart? That small ideas never come to light? Only the rich should get richer?

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