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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Picocalc done properly?
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| matherp Guru  Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 10007 |
Is there really a big market for this sort of thing? If there is why not do it properly? Single board that can be fully built by JLC using my standard component blocks from various boards RP2350, 16Mb Flash, 8Mb PSRAM Battery backed RTC I2S Audio with amp, speakers + headphone jack Battery with onboard charging and use when external power connected. 16-bit parallel display so fast Custom keyboard with 10x8 matrix scanned direct from the RP2350 so no tacky I2C faults Case design for resin print by JLC or home print Properly supported by standard MMBasic Everything open source and no profit The only bit that would require a bit of investment is the tooling for the keyboard. Looks like this would be about GBP1500 one-off for a similar keyboard to the PicoCalc and probably less for a membrane keyboard with click keys. The £1500 is a UK price I'm sure there are Chinese firms who could do this cheaper - haven't researched - and that would have to be amortised across a reasonable build volume - say 100 Interesting? |
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thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4245 |
My opinion ... ... don't waste your time. It's all "make believe" and 80's "boys" with too much disposable income most of whom I expect are buying the PicoCalc as a bit of retail therapy and retro-computer nostalgia and will lose interest and move onto the "next shiny" pretty quickly. I suppose in a way I'm one of these (though I don't intend on buying a PicoCalc; I have enough paperweights already), but messing with MMBasic seems to be good for my mental health if not my sleeping time. ClockworkPi have made a business for themselves catering to this market and providing commercial looking products, glossy website and good marketing - all 3 things that we seem to be bad at here in the shed, and which your superior hardware design abilities are not going to "fix". And I don't condemn ClockworkPi for this, "good for them" is what I say, I just wish they'd be more careful with their software licensing and provide better software support in general. IMO if people want MMBasic in their pocket then MMBasic for Android is the answer. MMB4L takes me part of the way there, maybe one day I'll make the next two leaps, or maybe you will beat me to it ... I certainly don't plan on racing you. > Everything open source and no profit I'm not sure, but I think the ClockworkPi design is "supposed" to be open-source ... it's just much easier and not excessively expensive for those who are interested to buy from them. YMMV, Tom Edited 2025-05-01 23:07 by thwill MMBasic for Linux, Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
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| Gadgetguy Newbie  Joined: 26/04/2025 Location: FrancePosts: 14 |
I would buy a better picocalc for lets say 2x the price of the current one. GBP 1500? Absolutely not. For usd 150 likely a good number could be sold I agree with you Tom about the target market (and yhat would be me too). But i estimate that that market is quite big (clockworkpi seems to be selling a good number of devices, and people are willing to wait a year or more for the uconsole) I would think there is definitely a market for a well designed and low cost manufactured handheld computing device (mmbasic or other language) it is just a question of finding the right team to do it (i have some experience in the area in case someone would want to action this) Edited 2025-05-01 23:53 by Gadgetguy |
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| matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 10007 |
That's a one-off tooling cost to create what's required to make the keyboards in bulk. Assuming a run of 100 then that works out to GBP15 + the individual cost - say GBP10. |
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| Gadgetguy Newbie Joined: 26/04/2025 Location: FrancePosts: 14 |
Wow. Lets partner up and turn this into a business! I am quite serious. We could raise the money via indigogo Edited 2025-05-01 23:55 by Gadgetguy |
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| matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 10007 |
No chance - don't do this for money - the returns are too trivial to bother getting out of bed for. |
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| Gadgetguy Newbie Joined: 26/04/2025 Location: FrancePosts: 14 |
Well i can take care of the money part. You just tell me what you expect to be rewarding for you? I have built a hardware company before, designed in Canada, manufactured in China Edited 2025-05-02 00:28 by Gadgetguy |
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| Carnifex Newbie Joined: 02/07/2020 Location: United StatesPosts: 13 |
I am feeling a bit attacked here  .Unfortunately, I also think you are entirely correct. Clockworkpi products do have a tendency to create pretty resilient communities around them. However I think in the case of the PicoCalc, it will be a pretty divided community, and PicoMite will be one of many small subsets of that community. I think the majority of users will eventually migrate to using Picocalc_SD_Boot so they can choose what they want to use on the fly. |
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vegipete Guru Joined: 29/01/2013 Location: CanadaPosts: 1121 |
SwissMicros seems to be successful with their line of reproduction HP calculators. And those are not cheap. With refinement, and a better keyboard (both layout and function), the PicoCalc could fill a similar role. As Thwill says, at the moment, nostalgianauts with cash to burn would seem to be to main audience. Visit Vegipete's *Mite Library for cool programs. |
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| gadgetjack Senior Member  Joined: 15/07/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 169 |
My 2 cents say there is not much gained from those units. Other than a hard to type on keyboard , you don't get a lot. I am happy with the toys we have. |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 4819 |
Wauw, the large models are ver authentic hop calculators, but with titanium Shell. This exclusive pricing is not strange. Look what these plastic case original hp calculators cost second hand. This is very much a true value for money. Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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homa Guru Joined: 05/11/2021 Location: GermanyPosts: 451 |
YES |
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| ville56 Senior Member Joined: 08/06/2022 Location: AustriaPosts: 213 |
I'm so glad i still have my HP16C from the 1980s. It was working about 30 years with the first set of batteries. It is working still without any hitch, built for eternity. And my grandson is still not knowing why i don't calculate like he learns at school .... "2+3=5 so easy grandpa".... this "2 enter 3 + gives 5" is a bit impractical to him. But I love RPN. 73 de OE1HGA, Gerald |
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| toml_12953 Guru Joined: 13/02/2015 Location: United StatesPosts: 384 |
It all sounds great. I'd buy one. However, I'm not a typical user. You'd be competing against the $75.00 USD PicoCalc so you'd have to create a lot of buzz for such a device if you want to attract the kinds on numbers that would make it feasible. At £1500, there are a lot of much more powerful tiny computers available although they're not self-contained with screen and keyboard. If you ever do produce such a device at under $1K USD, let me know! |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3989 |
The £1500 is a one-off as already posted. The overall device would be quite cheap, near the $75 (but somewhat more). If there's the demand AND someone who wants to do the job (building, advertising, shipping, etc), which is in doubt. John Edited 2025-05-02 23:20 by JohnS |
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