What should we build next?

General Topics
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Well, the two biggest asks have been answered (AMD and Framework XL). Where do we go from here?

The logical next choice is the next most popular, which I don’t have as good a read on. Just from the posts I’ve seen in my time here, a touch screen module is a good contender. Not to mention the fact that the reason that my friends who need new laptops are looking elsewhere is touch.

Phone is an ask for some people, and given that there’s a collaboration with Google now, Android is a possibility. I worry about starting R&D for another new form factor (how are modules going to work here?) before there’s even revenue from the last one.

I also saw a printer higher up the thread, but I’m not sure how it could be gimmick-ified to be modular other than opening the the ink bay to be made compatible by the community with any cartridge possible. Given the state of the printer market, it would definitely be industry-disrupting.

On the subject of accessories, a bit more mundane is the computer mouse. Could definitely be brought into line with laptops’ gimmick (make it expansion card sized and detach from a small dongle part of the card), or be scaled up to full size as just a sustainable mouse with its own modular ecosystem (scroll wheels, buttons, the sensor, an rp2040-enabled side button plate…).

More niche but high margin is the education market. If on-site tech support is able to stock screens for when a middle schooler inevitably steps on their school laptop, it’s significantly more cost efficient than comparable fleet alternatives. A lower spec, cheaper laptop, still modular but designed for cost efficiency and wholesale purchase? Again, there is the strain of a new R&D expense sheet, but with potential for even bigger payoff than the 16.

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It’s tough, I would have said an eGPU but the upgradable GPU laptop covers that… I don’t think tablets have a big enough market so phone I guess?

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Welp now that we have AMD, I’m gonna go the new category route and agree with Smartphone!
The foundation has been there for a while with Project Ara… Makes sense to go there next, phones haven’t exactly been repair friendly for a while…

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  • I don’t see a framework phone happening unless they work with an established brand such as fairphone, either being their US distributor (they are only focused in Europe rn) or rebadging it for the US market.
    • Side note it would be crazy if these two merged and became on big repairable tech company
  • As someone has said, you made the two items everyone has been asking for. The 17 and 18-inch markets are extremely niche and only really used for gaming. For mobile os tablets, Apple has that market on lock, so that may not work either.
  • What would make more sense would work your way into the mid-tier laptops, a better-priced Chromebook, an all-in-one computer, and possibly a 2-in-1 tablet computer.
    • The mid-tier laptop market point is self-explanatory, and Be_Far made some good points on this above
    • The current Chromebook is way too expensive for what a Chromebook should be priced at and their main demographic. Lower the price to be more competitive and to be an actual value because, at the end of the day, it’s a Chromebook.
    • A repairable all-in-one computer would be great (unrealistic but would still be cool to see). The most “upgradable” version, I think, is the HP all-in-one in which you can upgrade the memory and storage.
    • Finally, a digital artist-focused 2-in-1 laptop. Something to rival the surface pro and xps 13 2-in-1 tablet.
  • Other than this, I don’t know what else can be made for your main product lineup. Maybe a high-refresh screen for people who want it, especially with the AMD and 16" variants.
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This is a pipe dream I can fully get behind. Framework has branched out in the past for extra reputation and revenue—see the Steam Deck 2TB M.2 in the marketplace—I don’t think it’s too unrealistic that they become a US distributor and warehouse for Fairphone in the future, but a merger is probably out of the question.

The Chromebook pricing is why I still mentioned a fleet laptop. This Chromebook feels like more of a show of good faith to their new partner Google, who now can transition staff to bleeding-edge portable thin clients for in-house development. You would never give it to a middle schooler.

I would be excited to see a 2-in-1 or graphics tablet PC in general, especially if it came with touch innovation for the 13 or the Gamework (I’m surely not going to be the only one that calls it that…).

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Potentially you can use your Framework 1 as a NAS?
You can just plug in everything via USB/Thunderbolt. Or you can plug in a PCIe switch to the m.2, split it into boot drive and RAID/SATA controller. Or split it into more drives.
That’s sort of the issue with allocating all the lanes to Thunderbolts. I’d rather see half of the ports getting TB and the rest go to PCIe stuff like more drives and whatsnot.

Although Framework 16 seems to able to pull it off (a few ports get 2x instead of 4x). Which in my mind is perfectly fine. 8x on the expansion dock thing is nice.

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I would like a good second/third screen. Especially with the 16" being released this would be a good market to go into since that’s a need for a lot of engineers and other professionals. I bought two mobile pixel screens and they’re pretty good but pricy and I would love if they followed the same design philosophy as framework. Currently the only other competitors to mobile pixels I’ve seen are Chinese brands whose quality I don’t trust.

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There are a lot of really good portable displays these days. They got a lot better the last couple years and are imo at this point a solved issue. It’s not just laptop panels in a metal box anymore, though those were allready pretty neat.

You can get an amazing looking 14" 4k oled usb-c monitor for like 2-300 bucks or a nice 1440p ips for a bit over 100 from china.

Don’t think we need framework to slap a generic controller board to a laptop panel and put it in a nice case.

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A nice case as a separate SKU could be interesting, for people upgrading to matte screens. That way they could reuse their old panel.

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  • A touchscreen/tablet/pencil type screen for the framework laptop would be pretty awesome. Not sure how it would be convertible into a tablet but that would be neat
  • a way to detach the keyboard and use it on a desktop while the rest of the laptop/screen is on a riser would be a game changer for portable ergonomics
  • Smartphone
  • printer has been mentioned a few times, which i agree with. It would be awesome if they could make it modular enough to also function as a vinyl cutter as well. Something that could be configured as a Roland Versastudio for combination printing and cutting work. That would be awesome for general purpose home printing as well as sticker printing. If they could make it also print from spooled paper or vinyl, you could also use it for printing murals/banners which would be cool. Lots of neat possibilities in the printer space.
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A Framework headset would get me into VR.

I wouldn’t purchase one of these, but I think it needs to be done. Bleed the scumbag companies that continue to pull anti-consumer nonsense.

I would absolutely purchase this.

Or better yet, RISC-V. There’s been a lot of hype around ARM after Apple’s foray into it, but RISC-V seems more aligned with the framework mission. Leave the closed-source stuff to the classic anti-consumer companies.

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They could make a upgrade kit, that would be kinda nice and would probably even help protect the panel during shipping.

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I really hope they will make a smartphone, preferably with a Android ROM.

Not sure how long my current phone lasts and I really don’t want to drop money on nowadays phones.

There are a few alternatives, but I really don’t want an expensive phone with a lacking camera. I don’t need a fast phone, I need one with a good camera, good battery and decent display that will last me years on end.

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A modular mouse. With easily swappable casings, for right and left hand and in different sizes. For those of us who are in danger of RSI and have to frequently switch hands. And different sizes and form factors for non-standard hands.

(I, for example, have never found something that was available as left and right) and fitted my long and slender hands (think of five-legged spiders attached to orang-utan arms).)

So 3 widths x 3 lengths, maybe with a set of 5 weights (or small lead pellets, as for model airplanes) would eat big chunks of the market of the RSI-prones, nonstandard hands-endowed, or tinkering oriented gamers.

Trackball along the same lines.

Keyboard, ideally with adjustable split, tenting, and tilt, with detachable modules for numpad and nav keys. To be placed at one’s discretion right/left/below the main keyboard. This can be done right!

Also a custom key pad. Possibly (in the same design) with extras. The protections for the optical elements of this thing could have expired by now, dunno, and it could be built much smaller to fit on a number pad sized module. And free solder pads for custom control elements.

Not sure what the security implications would be to put it all into the same box, but…
Combined NAS/Media Server, Pie-Hole, Router, Smart Home Center.
Modules on the one side for fiber optic, copper wire DSL, coax TV cable DSL, mobile broadband (, packet radio?) — to be populated ad lib. for fallback channels, bundling for max throughput, or any combination conceivable.
On the other side: USB, LAN, GPIO, WiFi, smart home radio, … Multiple of each possible, e.g. one WiFi for business (guaranteed throughput), one for the family (lower priority), one for Freifunk or something.
A selection of CPUs between high and low performance, upgradeable as needed.

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Don’t. Your border gateway device should do nothing else to minimise its attack surface because its the first device in the firing line. nas/media server, file server, print server, smart home hub et al should always be physically separate to the border gateway router/firewall.

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A Smartphone which REALLY protects you and don’t “steel” your personal data. Today many apps and ios are listening and maybe switching on camera (you never know)
Please develop a smartphone with hardware switches at the side to switch off, Mic, front and aft Camera, GPS, NFC, Bluetooth and WIFI.
The hardware switch can be like from the one plus or from iPhones known. I am really looking for a phone were i can be 100% sure that i really “cut” the line to camera, mic etc. and not a software switch which can be bypassed.
If you develop a phone with hardware to exchange/upgrade and safety features would be really nice and i am sure that many people are looking for a “data protection” phone.

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Yoga laptop. Or be the cool kid from the 2010s and make rotating screen laptop.

Lenovo_42963LU_320GB_ThinkPad_X220_42963LU_842845
Lenovo_42963LU_320GB_ThinkPad_X220_42963LU_8428452000×2000 215 KB

Hinge durability doesn’t really mean anything if they are easily replaceable

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There are a lot of data protection phones already! Modularity might be interesting to have though in a phone from a company besides Fairphone.

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Hey,

I thought of some ideas for you to potentially use in the future. Thought I’d float some of them here:

  • You could add some built in adjustable feet to the bottom laptop cover. This would allow users to prop up their laptops more easily for better ergonomics, and also would make cooling easier. Here is an example product that is already on the market: Laptop Rubber Feet
  • The cooling on the Framework 13, and a lot of other thin and light laptops, can leave a lot to be desired sometimes. Some easy solutions involve propping up the laptop with a riser and/or using a vertical laptop stand. An even better idea would be to create a vertical laptop stand with a fan that would cool the Framework laptop even further. This would allow the laptop to run for a long time at close to full capacity, for example when gaming or doing computationally intensive work such as simulations. Here is an example cooling stand: Cooling Dock Dx – SVALT. Of course, SVALT is charging an arm and a leg, but it seems like they have a good idea and a unique product.
  • You could also make a modular Thunderbolt 4 dock for us to use with the Framework Laptop. This might include expansion card slots, power delivery (i.e., laptop charging), a slot for an external gpu, m.2 storage slots, and/or an expansion bay similar to the one that will be in the Framework 16. This could be combined with the cooling dock as well, or just make the whole thing a collection of modules to assemble.
  • You could add more display options for the next Framework laptop. For example, a 4K display and/or a touchscreen display would be useful to have on the 16 inch laptop.

Happy to hear your thoughts!

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That takes a 16 inch gpu module to make a really compact egpu, that would be pretty neat.