What products beyond laptops do you want to see upgradeable, customizable, repairable versions of?
a very good, high performance 4K blu-ray player.
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So as someone who does art for semi-living, there are a few things I’d LOVE Framework to tackle.
Lately I haven’t really seen anything that’s modular specifically geared towards artists. Sure there’s been the Wacom MobileStudio, and Huion’s Kamvas Studio 16, but having a tablet PC with a focus of artists in mind would be awesome. Something like a modular tablet PC that gives you the option to swap out the screen to something like pressure / tilt sensitive EMR pen tech. I personally would LOVE to be able to just break out a Framework tablet similar to an iPad, and just pull up Blender / Zbrush and just go ham on it. Or even just partnering up with Huion / Wacom / XP Pen / Whomever with the EMR tech and make an EMR display that we can swap out the regular screen for.
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A composable/modular low power desktop.
Should be based on stackable small enclosures, each one doing one task (CPU, memory, storage, IO) and daisy chained by a proprietary PCI express gen4/5 x16 connector.
The desktop equivalent of GigaIO (https://gigaio.com/)
This sort of high performance, desktop machine can be used for: statistics, analytics, machine learning, genomics, computational fluid dynamics, AI, data visualization etc. in laboratories, SMEs, high schools and universities.
even better, how about a custom but open source PCIe connector?
You are right. No custom or proprietary at all, they should use a regular one, just allow pci express gen 4 x 16 pins-out to be exported in an external connector.
The market for a modular, high performance router is there.
25 Gbit/s at home, part 1 / 25 Gbit/s at home, part 1. First part of a story on how I’ve built… | by Vladimir Smirnov | Sep, 2023 | Medium
My upgrade to 25 Gbit/s Fiber To The Home (2022) / My upgrade to 25 Gbit/s Fiber To The Home (2022) - Michael Stapelberg
It’s available now if you didn’t see that.
Looks like they don’t have good compatibility for US bands though
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I think a more repairable tablet. Kind of in the same genre of laptops, but there are quite a good number of industries looking to minimize the clutter of keyboard and mouse.
Rugged tablets are a thing. Rugged convertibles is also a thing.
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For me, the following would be the biggest options:
Phone: I use a Pixel 6 with CalyxOS. Since I do video work, having a phone with a really strong camera is super key, and it would be nice to see something where I could pop in a larger lens/sensor for heavy work, then snap back in a simple thing for daily use. Obviously, a super saturated market… but also a market with literally nothing that comes close to this. With all respect to Fairphone, their devices aren’t repairable to the same degree, they aren’t modular, and they don’t compete with my old Moto let alone the latest line of Pixel/Apple phones.
Roku Replacement: Something like the NVIDIA Shield, but modular and based around AMD would be absolutely lovely. Built-in support for apps like Plex/Jellyfin/Emby/Kodi as well as Audiobookshelf (maybe even preinstalled and prepared for full streaming capability). Drop in some software features like an open-source cast function and a Night Listening mode and BAM, you’d have me so sold.
E-Ink device: I use a Supernote and I’m a massive fan of it. It’s got pen-on-paper feel, super strong software development, simple but stylish design… I’m a huge fan. But, even though Ratta is really clear about keeping their devices running for as long as possible, and even though I love their customer service, I’d really prefer a machine that was modular and self-repairable, as well as one with a focus on partnering with open source software.
As a sub-category of e-ink, I would LOVE to see a snappable e-ink screen for the Framework 16 (which I’ll be getting in next year’s batch, yay!). I’m a writer, and I would desperately love to have an all-day battery life screen optimized for writing that I could use anywhere, including in the sun. Then, pop back in the primary screen for teaching work, surfing, and all the other jazz.
Smart/Dumb Home devices: Not as much of a priority for me, personally, but it’d really round out the ecosystem.
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There’s tremendous waste and anticonsumer trends around cars. It would be awesome to reverse that trend and make cars user repairable again and have more shared parts.
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Make a touch screen computer that can have a detachable keyboard like the Surface.
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I was really hoping that the March 23rd announcement was going to be a tablet enclosure of some kind, but alas it was not.
A 13" tablet chassis with a digitizer display/pen would be amazing, I was in the market for such a device around the March 23rd announcement date and ended up purchasing an Asus Z13 to meet my needs, which does not support any kind of right-to-repair ideology and has an abysmal warranty/repair pathway through their customer support.
I would really have preferred it to have been a Framework device, but unfortunately, I couldn’t compromise on features that were essential.
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Maybe upgradable Xr/vr/ar/mr headsets( I’d say is possible ), glasses ( can do it , upgradability not so sure ) and monitors , consoles( not to bad just need to find someone to optimise games),webcams( meh seems a lil hard ), mice( idk I possible) ,a router( doesn’t seem too hard), different sizes of tablets and phones ( ez except the upgrade/ repair would be hard),pens for devices, ,ur own custom keyboard with custom switches(ez ), printer ( pretty ez I guess) and finally a watch ( possible but I’m not to sure it can be upgradable or repairable)
Also everything I’m mentioning means an upgradable version of it
Possibly a touchscreen version of everything that can have a touchscreen and everything else?
And just a joke but y’all can try ; a car… oh wait it’s already repairable ~~~ oops
I mentioned this a long time ago but now with the advent of the Framework 16 it has become a low hanging fruit. An EGPU usinng the framework modules along with a mmx standard mobile gpu chip was what I originally proposed, however now it would likely be easier to simply use items already engineered for the eco system. So an EGPU using the framework modules and the graphics axpansion from the Framework 16, along with theFramework 16 charger. This would allow for upgrades, while re-using parts within the eco system.
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Id love to see partnerships honestly, be that with partners who make the same stuff as you, like laptops, or if its peoppe you dont compete with like valve and fairphone.
More parnerships in terms of different keyboards and input options on the framework 16 would be amazing.
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A repairable and customisable Xbox style game controller, and upgradeable in the long run.
Having read through the thread, here is my observation …
A NAS should be achievable with minimal effort, mainly designing a case to use an FW16 processor. I imagine a stripped down Linux loaded on the 2230 card leaving the 2280 card slot for NAS storage. FW have also intimated they have played with a PCB that can use the PCiE channels that go to the Expansion Bay to service a number of 2280 NVME modules, and this would allow a RAID array of modules to increase speed and militate against disk errors. The wifi card would allow using the NAS as a wifi server, and an ethernet module to connect to the cable modem, or whatever other internet connection is provided.
I envisage the cable modem (or equivalent) would be the prime firewall, possibly with secondary firewall in the NAS if so desired.
The NAS could also act as a cloud for local home automation (there have been various posts asking for cloudless home automation) that could also be accessed from the internet if so desired. This would probably involve some extra Linux programming to get suitable login access from the internet that would allow suitable secure access.
Much of the hardware required is already in development (as the Fw16 isn’t in delivery at time of writing). I envisage deliverables as follows; -
FW16 processor/memory/NVME, new design case, using existing model fans, and with ‘expansion board’ space. a DIY edition would allow purchaser to source memory and NVME elsewhere as desired.
Stage two would add the PCB to add the NVME array. This would effectively be a DIY add-on option, but a non-DIY version with the expansion PCB and desired number of NVME drives could also be offered.
So the only extra development required would be a case, as all the other hardware is effectively already in the product line (well, the NVME array PCB is a development play thing currently). Depending on how the case is designed the fan placement may need to be moved, or some other fan used.
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- RISC-V processor board.
- More expansion graphics modules, with different GPUs.
- Possibility to plug-in custom expansion modules (e.g. for AI).
- Possibility to connect to an external processor board, and switch display/keyboard between the internal and external one(s).
- SIM card slot expansion card.
- Expansion card with both USB-C and audio headphone jack (would allow to save one slot for other purposes).
- An RS-232 expansion card :')
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I don’t know why people are always mentioning this. It is only going to be a USB-RS232 dongle anyway, so why not use an already readily available dongle? You are going to have to have a cable from the laptop to the other equipment anyway.
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Available from community members
Expansion cards - List of company or individually driven projects
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