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The Framework Laptop

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Re: The Framework Laptop

#501

Post by baybal2 »

hinkley wrote: post #411
baybal2 wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You cannot weld aluminium, or at least not on the cheap. The only real "weldable aluminium" known today are scandium-aluminium alloys which are both hard to get, and expensive.

Cannondale bicycles would like to have a word with you. They started out making bikes out of 'aircraft aluminum' which if memory serves was [6061]( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6061_aluminium_alloy ), which is magnesium silicon, not scandium. Do you mean you can't weld aluminum in an oxygen environment? I think you're right about that at least. I think they used argon, and then had a patented(?) annealing process to…

There are somewhat weldable alumium alloys, but their joints are still nowhere near as strong as steel ones in relative comparison.

And you still have very painstaking process of finding the optimal welding recipe for the part, post-treatment, and defectoscopy.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#502

Post by jrmann100 »

This looks like a fantastic, albeit potentially costly, product, and I'm excited to see where it goes. For those of us who are happy with our current laptops but are still excited by the customizability of the Expansion Card system, are you considering creating USB-C hubs designed to work with the modules? The Cards obviously already adapt to USB-C but it'd be nice to have a dedicated hub to stack them and save space.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#505

Post by estaseuropano »

samizdis wrote: post #181
arcturus17 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've got the street cred but producing and marketing hardware is so damn hard. Ouya and the Essential phone are two cases that immediately spring to mind where the founding teams were credible, but the products ended up being massive flops. Good luck to them anyway. The idea is cool and I think if I were on the lookout for a Linux laptop and they delivered on their quality promise, I'd consider them.

Yes, I remember being particularly disappointed when Google's Project Ara [1] to create a modular mobile phone was shelved. It seemed like a fantastic idea, and I truly thought that Alphabet/Google had the cash/clout - and will - to deliver. Still, I haven't lost my optimism just yet. As you say, good luck to Framework with the laptop project. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Ara

See Fairphone!

Re: The Framework Laptop

#506

Post by dopu »

boogies wrote: post #407
throwaway894345 wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've still never seen a PC with a sane touchpad. That's the first issue in a long tail of grievances with the PC laptop ecosystem. EDIT: This isn't a generic "pro-Mac" dig, I want a nice PC laptop because I like dabbling with Linux; however, even the high end trackpads are clunky, even with the pre-installed Windows (never mind the eternal sadness that is Linux trackpad configuration).

I’ve never understood why people⁰ care so much about trackpads. For working with text (including code) keyboards are better, and for gaming mice are better. Where I'm less sure is graphics and video, but it seems to me like specialized mice, graphics tablets, and other tools (eg. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/key... and https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/pan... ) are b…

In my day job I'm constantly reading PDFs. Being able to zoom in/out, scroll, and move the cursor with such low effort can even bring me a little bit of joy. It's not really about what is most efficient. Computing should feel good. That's why it's hard for me to move away from Apple's trackpads.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#507

Post by not2b »

zorrolovsky wrote: post #359
jdormit wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing stopping just installing linux on the preassembled one when you get I though, I assume. Although I guess you may have to pay for a Windows license in that case...

Yes, and that's the issue with most computers today: there's no way to opt out to Windows. Whether you like it or not, licensing cost is blended into the computer and even if you don't use Windows you're somehow supporting a company that you might not want to support. I undertand in 99.9% of cases people just want to buy a laptop, turn it on and have it working. But I also think there should be an easy way to opt out…

In many cases, the cost of the license to the OEM is negative. That's because the cost of the Windows license is more than outweighed by the payments they get for crapware, adware, and 30-day trials, they get paid to pre-install (and the crapware requires Windows). It would actually cost them more to ship with no OS.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#508

Post by nrp »

lovelyviking wrote: post #93
nrp wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're shipping in the US and Canada this summer and opening up additional countries in Europe and Asia before the end of the year. In the future, we will launch modules and products worldwide closer to the same date, but we're pacing ourselves on inventory on the first launch. We placed our forecasts and risk buys on most chips early in anticipation of the silicon crunch that is coming this year. So far, we don't see…

Finally! This is amazing what you do! I like the philosophy and share values! This is the machine I wish to have and this is the machine I was dreaming to help making. Is there any way one can help/contribute/join? I have knowledge in sw-dev/ hw / design and speak 4 languages. May be there is a way to help distribute them at least?

Thanks! We're continuing to grow the team, and have a bunch of roles open currently: https://jobs.lever.co/framework

Re: The Framework Laptop

#509

Post by Sebb767 »

andrewflnr wrote: post #390
burlesona wrote: post #55

Well, HN will love this. Moddable laptop with a good webcam? Nice. But: - I really dislike the arrow keys not having the air gap above left and right. You’d think they’d learn that from the MacBook butterfly keyboard era. - it’s a little disingenuous to say “no adapters” when in fact their little expansion cards are merely adapters that insert into the chassis of the laptop. Only four I/O ports is a little tight (des…

It's not "disingenuous". Everyone knows they're talking about external dongles because those are the kind of adapter that's actually annoying. Complaining about their modules because they're implemented in terms of USB-C is the worst kind of technically true but semantically nonsensical nitpick, precisely because it takes a long comment like this to unpack it but only a few words to make it.

And, additionally, using USB-C is a common and widely used standard - slamming them for using that instead of something proprietary (to make it less "dongly") is really not a good thing.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#510

Post by SeanLuke »

reaperducer wrote: post #485
boogies wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve never understood why people⁰ care so much about trackpads. For working with text (including code) keyboards are better, and for gaming mice are better. Where I'm less sure is graphics and video, but it seems to me like specialized mice, graphics tablets, and other tools (eg. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/key... and https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/pan... ) are b…

my point is that most tasks are either ① best done in a good text editing / development environment Your point is only correct if you replace the word "most" with "my." The fact that trackpads are hugely popular indicates that your needs are not typical, and you should not impose your choices upon others with different needs. would be better done with a specialized non-keyboard, non-trackpad input device Show me a be…

> Show me a better multi-purpose input device that I can use to rotate objects on a screen. Or zoom into a specific object without affecting other objects on a screen.

I agree with you in general, but a trackpad is in fact really, truly horrible for these tasks. As humans we are designed to rotate objects precisely, and that design does not involve using two fingers to slide about arbitrary locations on a flat plane. It involves grasping and rotating with the hand. For rotating and/or zooming, a large knob attached to a high-resolution encoder would be a million times better.

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