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What I learned selling 2,500 MIDI recorders: Hardware is not so hard

chipweinberger.com

41–50 of 276 posts

Re: What I learned selling 2,500 MIDI recorders: Hardware is not so hard

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> now that LLMs removed most of the fun of programming Never understood this, was the "most of the fun of programming" the literal typing for you? For me it was about solving problems and building things, and I get to do that more now than before, and without all the literal typing.

[flagged]

> You would know this if you had any idea what actually goes into it

Goes into what? Into typing code or into creating LLMs?

Overall I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, nor why you feel bad about it. Mind explaining to a simpleton like me with simpler words and concepts?

Re: What I learned selling 2,500 MIDI recorders: Hardware is not so hard

#43
post #31

I've been using an Anatek Pocket Record for the past 34 years. Bought it when I was 14. That's value! https://www.izcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/pm_Pocket-Record.j...

Yes I've seen a few people mention that! All of the best MIDI hardware recorders are ancient, for whatever reason. Well, apart from Jamcorder ;)

Re: What I learned selling 2,500 MIDI recorders: Hardware is not so hard

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> You would know this if you had any idea what actually goes into it Goes into what? Into typing code or into creating LLMs? Overall I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, nor why you feel bad about it. Mind explaining to a simpleton like me with simpler words and concepts?

I understand what he means.

Software can be about the beauty in an algorithm, the elegance of an implementation. This is very similar to the type of beauty and elegance one finds in Mathematics.

For many, writing software is more about crafting a beautiful design than typing lines of code.

Getting things done is not about crafting, though (although crafting IS about getting something done).

Thus the big clash when suddenly you can get things done well enough, without the craft part, with LLMs. Even if beauty and elegance are in there, most would not see it, because most do not want to review "LLM slop". They get things done.

Re: What I learned selling 2,500 MIDI recorders: Hardware is not so hard

#45

I'll be sticking around in the comments so feel free to ask questions. AMA!

I recognize the "esp32 perched on top of a circuit board" from the picture. I've got a couple of those at my house right now, I'm on the second version of one board and the third of another. I think I'm going down a very similar road for a different product. Would you be willing to some paid advising? I'm an EE so I don't need hand-holding on the actual boards or programming, really just looking for more information on everything else around the edges. Either way, thanks for the article. It was nice to get some validation of my development process.

Re: What I learned selling 2,500 MIDI recorders: Hardware is not so hard

#46
post #10

What was your anti-counterfeiting strategy? That sounds interesting.

I'm using an STSAFE chip - the same IC they use in StarLink terminals. Essentially the digital equivalent of a holographic barcode. I have some other protections too. e.g. Random 128-bit per-device IDs / product-keys. iMessage uses this strategy. Maybe I'll write an article about that.

Yes, please do!

Re: What I learned selling 2,500 MIDI recorders: Hardware is not so hard

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO it's better to ship preprogrammed ICs to the factory, so you can do your secure burning in-house.

Depends on where the ICs originally come from. No point shipping your ICs from China -> US, flashing them, shipping them back US -> China for assembly, and then ship them China -> US again to sell

Yet people do this all the time. Ask me how I know.

Re: What I learned selling 2,500 MIDI recorders: Hardware is not so hard

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> now that LLMs removed most of the fun of programming Never understood this, was the "most of the fun of programming" the literal typing for you? For me it was about solving problems and building things, and I get to do that more now than before, and without all the literal typing.

[flagged]

[dead]

Re: What I learned selling 2,500 MIDI recorders: Hardware is not so hard

#49
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You would know this if you had any idea what actually goes into it Goes into what? Into typing code or into creating LLMs? Overall I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, nor why you feel bad about it. Mind explaining to a simpleton like me with simpler words and concepts?

I understand what he means. Software can be about the beauty in an algorithm, the elegance of an implementation. This is very similar to the type of beauty and elegance one finds in Mathematics. For many, writing software is more about crafting a beautiful design than typing lines of code. Getting things done is not about crafting, though (although crafting IS about getting something done). Thus the big clash when su…

> For many, writing software is more about crafting a beautiful design than typing lines of code.

Yes, I count myself as one of these people, hence not caring much about the actual typing part.

> Getting things done is not about crafting, though (although crafting IS about getting something done).

I'd say it is, I like getting things done, hence I care about high quality code and proper design/architecture of the software itself and its concepts. Without caring about those things, you can "get things done" initially but as the thing grows, it gets slower and more complex. I like when "get things done" is applicable over years and as the software grows, then you need to carefully deliberate about almost every change and be vigilant about the design and architecture.

> Thus the big clash when suddenly you can get things done well enough, without the craft part, with LLMs. Even if beauty and elegance are in there, most would not see it, because most do not want to review "LLM slop".

Right, but no one is forcing you to go down that path. You can tell the LLM "Build a calculator" or you can come up with the design then tell the LLM to implement the design exactly, the choice is up to you. Since I care about the abstractions, design and cohesive architecture, I do the latter, and if you too do not care about the typing but the crafting, I'd advise people to also make that latter choice instead of the first.

Re: What I learned selling 2,500 MIDI recorders: Hardware is not so hard

#50
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The number that stuck out was 200K lines of code. Can you expand on why so much code had to be written and which parts were the longest (time and/or code) and hardest bits?

The app is about 85K lines: device connectivity, first-time setup, syncing, MIDI playback and visualization, library management, audio/video export, and OTA workflows. The firmware is about 110K lines: MIDI recording + streaming, USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, web APIs, storage, OTA updates, diagnostics, security, peripherals, provisioning, and an embedded web interface. There’s a lot required to make a full-featured product…

What is the manufacturing tooling that you mention?
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