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Rockbox future strategy

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gomezz:

--- Quote from: ethanay on November 06, 2016, 05:39:17 PM ---This is the point that the first article makes at the end:  "Sometimes, it’s better to be convenient than good."  That is the smart phone:  Convenient, but not really Good.  Rockbox will find its niche in a focused market that is already not concerned so much about convenience as it is about actual hardware and software performance, which are enthusiast (vs casual) consumers and professionals.  And this niche will always exist regardless of convergence and miniaturization trends (which have probably maxed out anyway, Apple even had to scale up its Nano because they were getting too small for comfort
--- End quote ---
I seem to be out of step then as I use my inexpensive Rockbox'd Clip+ hooked up to the work van radio which limits the audio fidelity but it also would not be such a disaster if someone broke into the van and stole it compared to having my more expensive phone loaded with personal information taken.

At home I use the FLAC'd version of my music from my laptop or tablet to play through my hi-fi compared to the MP3 version I have on my Clip+ and on my phone.

[Saint]:
The number one problem that I see with assertions made by OP in this thread is that plainly and simply, Rockbox is not a product.

The thing that people really don't seem to understand is that by and large, no one really actually cares what the community gets out of it or what the market dictates. Rockbox is made by developers, for developers.

If Joe Everyman gets a kick out of it, that's great, but they are not the target audience.


[Saint]

ceemsc:

--- Quote from: wodz on November 07, 2016, 04:22:54 AM ---So to conclude whats your silver bullet to salvage rockbox?

--- End quote ---

I'd say play to ROCKbox's strengths, it can provide music customisation that no other DAP or APP can provide.

Based on what I've read on this forum ; I think public crowdfunding for a unique hardware specific device which can run the firmware, with a basic screen & button input similar to the Sandisk Clip is the way to go.

Assuming that the end-user is going to be an audio enthusiast & a Rockbox fan; the first batch run need not include DAC or Headphone AMP - this project is not supposed to compete with Apple or Smartphones.

So keeping it basic, inputs would be USB for recharging & file upload. Maybe a flash card port if onboard storage is not an option. Output would be pure digital via a 3.5mm SPDIF port and that's it. Pretty much like an Ibasso DX50 but with the handling of a Sandisk Clip. It would be up to the user to purchase a separate external DAC/AMP/Headphone/Speaker combo.

faelnor:
A dedicated player is a wonderful dream but it's a lot of overhead for a software project. The best bet right now, until someone manages to design and finance the manufacturing of an open architecture that pleases everyone, is to have a non-binding hardware partnership with chinese companies like xDuoo and AGPtek that produce DAPs of reasonable quality and are open to replacement software as they have previously shown by helping people from rockbox.

According to hunterleo of AGPtek, their next player will be rockbox-compatible and on the paper sounds like a great lower-end solution. In addition to that, the xDuoo X3 is a great higher-end DAP with proven hardware with an already functional port.

To me, the future of Rockbox starts with 100% functional ports for both players (meaning Vorbis support and 192 kHz/24 bit playback on the X3 -- and yes, I know it's snake oil, but the success of a player and its software is also made by audiophiles). No other dedicated player or phone app has the capabilities and ease-of-use of Rockbox, so with big brands closing their hardware for no good reason and stopping the production of Rockbox-compatible players, I think it's important to have some flagships, even though I agree that RB is not a "product" per se.

IdahoBlind:
I'd just like to add that Rockbox is the only viable, simple and functional tool for allowing blind users to have a large-library DAP, capable of holding a big library of audiobooks.

The market for music and audio devices is dominated/saturated by devices with big shiny, colour touchscreens - which are worse than useless for blind users. I am not blind myself, but have previously set up rockbox on  sansa clip for a blind friend of mine. He was an avid reader before he lost his sight - but then had to rely on people to read to him (severely limiting), or cd audio books (which disk am I up to? What happened to disk #4, etc). None of those solutions allowed him to listen to audiobooks by himself, keep track of bookmarks, scroll through books, have more than one book on the go.

Rockbox did all of this for him. He said to me that it was like having his sight back. He gave me £20 cash to donate to the rockbox site (which I just donated). He is also a big music fan - and being able to scroll through his library and be the dj for the evening has reawakened his love of music.

So while Rockbox might not fit into the corporate money-making world - it is potentially life changing for blind people. The sansa clip has just died, and I am trying to get the xduoo working with rockbox... but it's not quite there yet. I am going to get another clip and get him back up and running while I wait for the xduoo port to come online (I am keen to help test or in any way I can on this). Once (if?) the xduoo port is up - I am thinking of setting up a webpage specifically for people to set up blind users with a functioning DAP. This site is great - but it's very much for the technical specialist. I am reasonably competent (as a technology user) but it make my eyes cross at times!

So thank you all for doing what you do. You have the potential to bring many thousands of people music and books, who otherwise are ignored or are not commercially interesting to big companies. Keep up the great work.

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