有人跟我一样，对最近在“创客(maker)”、开发板供应商与芯片业者之间正萌芽的“爱恋”百思不得其解吗？最让我感觉困惑的并非它们之间的“爱恋”，而是为何所有人都会认为那是不错的商机？
在过去几个月来我随机收集到几个相关信息，其一是今日的芯片供应商开始以他们自己的方式，为那些追寻DIY设计案的非工程专业人士、或那些对DIY有兴趣的人提供协助。为了迎合这些人的需要，只提供传统的参考设计是不够的。
例如飞思卡尔(Freescale)就希望能从这一群虽然似乎缺乏硬件设计专长的人之中，挖掘可做为下一代可穿戴设备开发资源的特定领域知识；该公司在今年稍早推出了一款名为WaRP的新参考设计，为该公司的平台添加了一系列可穿戴设备功能区块(如传感器、软件、连结性…)，让“创客”们能根据需要来选择为设备增减功能。
Marvell 最近发表了JavaScript 架构消费性电子/物联网(IoT)设备原型开发工具包Kinoma Create，目标用户是没有系统设计经验的网页设计师、软件开发商与非工程专业人员；该公司Kinoma平台业务副总裁Peter Hoddie声称，该开发工具包“比那些单板计算机所能提供的更完整”，除了配备可携式机箱、电池、可调整脚架，并整合了能添加传感器的面包板 (breadboard)、不需要用到焊gun，用户能整合所有必要元素以及高阶JavaScript软件。
中国芯片业者全志科技(Allwinner)则似乎对于开放性硬件平台pcDuino选择了该公司的应用处理器作为核心颇感兴奋。所有打造各种Arduino硬件──由开放硬件社群所开发的平台──且与pcDuino兼容所需的工作，都是由pcDuino社群来执行，不是全志；pcDuino就算没有全志的帮忙，也能让“创客”们设计各种设备，从智能型烟雾探测器到虚拟台式机。
低于100美元的解决方案
其二，有不少公司推出了价格100美元左右的单板计算机式参考设计；而在你只要花35美元就能买到电路板尺寸仅信用卡大小、配备博通(Broadcom)单芯片、Linux平台之Raspberry Pi计算机的今时今日，100美元对那些“创客”来说可能还嫌太贵。
一家新创芯片公司Adapteva 在去年于募资网站Kickstarter推出一款平行处理开发板Parallella，现在开始一周出货1,400套，优先提供给募资网站上的支持者(有的可能要等18个月才拿得到货)，售价99美元。Marvell的Kinoma Create开发工具包也是在募资网站(Indiegogo)上开卖，预计9月份开始出货，售价149美元。
Adapteva 首席执行官Andreas Olofsson 表示：“显然，没人会再想要向芯片公司买一套要价1,500美元的参考设计。”他指出，新的“创客”运动为芯片厂商提供了将组件与参考设计卖给以往不曾销售过芯片的对象：“如果不到100美元，甚至连专业工程师也有可能会自掏腰包、在周末闲暇时间尝试新芯片。”
这对 Adapteva来说是不错的机会，该公司希望能吸引工程师尝试其低功耗多核心微处理器；藉由透过公司官网向大众销售Parallella开发 板，Oloffson表示：“我们现在能知道谁购买我们的板子。”该公司正试图建立一个能互相交流的开发社群，但问题是到目前为止很少有人在那个“社群” 留言：“我们对那些──从不问问题的──买主如何使用我们的开发板所知甚少；我们甚至不确定他们是不是真的有把产品包装盒打开。”
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
第2页：芯片厂商能藉此建立名声？
第3页：“创客”与芯片业者之间的鸿沟…
相关阅读：
• 制造虽易，创造不易，深圳且行且创新
• 硅谷数模发布“SlimPort创客计划”支持软硬件厂商创新用户体验
• 让智能硬件实现连接交互RLFesmc
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芯片厂商能藉此建立名声？
其实所谓的“创客”运动并不是新鲜事，过去几十年来，热衷于DIY的人们就很爱到处修修补补、很乐意为了开发硬件而把手弄得脏兮兮的；电子零组件通路商Premier Farnell 旗下的element14内容总监Sagar Jethani表示，有两件事情让传统DIY转变成范围更广的“创客”运动：一是(开发板)价格，二是因特网。
Jethani 表示，因为不到100美元，所以就算那些开发板的功能不那么齐全，你也不会觉得太糟；而价位在35美元的Raspberry Pi则是定位成教具，能教学生利用电子技术来解决问题。止于因特网则是推了“创客”们一把：“当你在DIY时遇到困难，你总是能透过Google搜寻到 解答。”
而Jethani认为，电子产业已经克服了对“创客”们的最初质疑，他们开始会想知道，在那些“创客”中有多少是真正的工程师、是他们可以销售产品的对象？今日的“创客”除了有业余DIY爱好者，也有专业工程师，还有所谓的“周末战士(weekend warriors)”，但他们的真实身分已经变得无关紧要。
深圳创客和他的“脑电波控制飞行球”
RLFesmc
包括Premier Farnell 在内的电子零组件通路商，正看到把包括LED、传感器、被动组件甚至CAD软件工具、示波器等销售给那些新买家的商机；Jethani表示，根据他们对“创客”的了解，他们得用“未来产品生命周期”的思考模式来供应他们所需。
所以，这对库存了各种不同零组件的通路商们来说是好消息，但对于芯片厂商来说呢？对此飞思卡尔半导体首席执行官Gregg Lowe表示，该公司对“创客”运动是以较长远的眼光来看待：“在很大程度上，我们的资源专注在大学甚至是高中校园；”他指出，飞思卡尔不只是支持DIY 社群，也是为了建立名声，期望能在早期就让工程师接触到该公司产品。
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
第3页：“创客”与芯片业者之间的鸿沟…
相关阅读：
• 制造虽易，创造不易，深圳且行且创新
• 硅谷数模发布“SlimPort创客计划”支持软硬件厂商创新用户体验
• 让智能硬件实现连接交互RLFesmc
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“创客”与芯片业者之间的鸿沟…
这 意味着现实情况是，在“创客”与芯片供应商之间仍有存在着鸿沟。在某方面，有一些希望能创立一家像NEST那样的企业的“小家伙”们，却无法以少量购买芯片来开发产品以测试市场水温；在另一方面，已经习惯大量销售芯片的芯片大厂，却不知道该以什么方式卖芯片给那些“小家伙”们。
而电子零组件通路商则将自己视为“创客”与半导体芯片商、开发板供应商的桥梁，他们认为自己正处于最佳位置，能引导上述两种供应商通往“创客”们所追寻的梦 想产品。不过芯片供应商如果希望“创客”运动不只是个小插曲，就需要更具创意──其实芯片厂商是喜欢开放硬件社群的，因为只要他们能支持中小企业设计出各 种不同的产品，就可以不必受那些喜好掌握一切的OEM原厂宰制。
以可穿戴设备为例，芯片厂商恐怕无法负担为所有的相关产品 新创公司提供备货资源，这会让他们耗尽精力，毕竟在这个时代，芯片业者已经无法投注太多资源来雇用现场应用工程师(FAE)来支持所有的客户；而想挖到一家大客户(在可穿戴设备领域也根本没几家)也不容易，因此芯片厂商希望能建立一个成员互助──而且免费的开放性社群。
这样的开放性社群还没有完全建立起来，谁知道它未来会如何发展？而因为这是一个长远计划，芯片厂商还是得冒一些风险──透过选择值得他们支持的设计者、开发商。在这种情况下，Marvell的策略似乎是正确的；据了解，该公司正与一些特定对象合作提供支持，希望能打造“超级巨星”。每一家希望产品大卖的芯片业者还是需要有“超级巨星”。
另一方面，如element14的Jethani 所言，在该领域仍需有一个平衡点；他把“创客”比喻为肥料，而传统量产型芯片产业则像是一片草坪：“如果放太多肥料，可能反而让草坪死翘翘。”
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
编译：Judith Cheng
参考英文原文：Will ‘Makers’ Help Chip Guys’ Bottom Line?，by Junko Yoshida
相关阅读：
• 制造虽易，创造不易，深圳且行且创新
• 硅谷数模发布“SlimPort创客计划”支持软硬件厂商创新用户体验
• 让智能硬件实现连接交互RLFesmc
{pagination}
Will ‘Makers’ Help Chip Guys’ Bottom Line?
Junko Yoshida, Chief International Correspondent
MADISON, Wis. -- Am I the only one scratching my head over this newborn love among “makers,” board vendors, and chip companies? What mystifies me most is not so much the love part, but how anyone could eventually mistake this infatuation for good business.
OK, there are a few random facts I’ve picked up in the past few months. First, chip suppliers today are going out of their way to help out non-engineering professionals in pursuit of DYI projects, or those who say they are.
To cater to this crowd, it isn’t enough just to give them traditional reference design. Freescale Semiconductor, for one, hopes to mine the crowd, despite an absence of hardware design expertise. It possesses some specific domain knowledge that might project it as the source of the next hot wearable device.
Freescale earlier this year launched new reference design called WaRP. Freescale is adding to its platform a broad range of wearable building blocks (sensors, software, connectivity, etc.) from which makers can pick and choose what they need to scale up or scale down the device.
Marvell recently announced Kinoma Create. In pursuit of Web designers, software developers, and non-engineering professionals with no prior experience in designing a system, Marvell designed Kinoma Create, a JavaScript-powered maker kit for prototyping consumer electronics and IoT devices. Peter Hoddie, Marvell’s Kinoma vice president, described the kit as “much more complete than what a single-board computer can offer.”
It comes with "a case to make it portable, a battery to make it mobile, adjustable legs to reorient it, and an integrated breadboard for adding sensors -- no soldering iron needed," he said. But the beauty part (they say) is that users can integrate all the necessary elements with the higher-level JavaScript software.
Allwinner in China seemed delighted when pcDuino picked Allwinner’s apps processor as the brain for its motherboard. All the hard work needed to make a variety of Arduino hardware -- developed by the open-source hardware community -- pluggable to pcDuino has been carried out by the pcDuino community, not Allwinner. pcDuino, with no help from Allwinner, is enabling makers to design everything from a new smoke detector (which sends a message to your smartphone to change batteries, instead of making annoying beeping sounds in the middle of the night) to virtual desktops.
Below $100
Next: Companies are putting out reference design-turned single computer boards at a price point around $100. At a time when you can get a Raspberry Pi, a credit card-sized board with a Broadcom SoC running Linux at only $35, even $100 seems pretty expensive to some makers.
A startup, Adapteva, last year launched a parallel-processing board called Parallella using a Kickstarter campaign. The company recently started building 1,400 boards a week and began “shipping mass quantities to Kickstarter backers, many of whom have waited almost 18 months.” The Parallella board is priced… well you guessed it… at $99.
Similarly, Marvell last month launched Kinoma Create at Indiegogo, another crowd-funding site. Now the Kinoma Create, scheduled to start shipping in September, is priced at $149.
As Andreas Olofsson, Adapteva’s CEO, told us, “Apparently, nobody any longer buys a $1,500 reference design from a chip company.” As discouraging as all this sounds, the new “maker” movement opens opportunities for chip vendors to move devices and reference designs into the hands of people they’ve never sold chips to before. “If it is under $100, even a professional engineer could use his personal credit card to try out a new chip in his spare time over the weekend,” he explained. That’s not bad for Adapteva, which is hoping to sway engineers to try out the company's low-power multicore microprocessor design.
By selling Parallella to the general public on their website, Oloffson said, “We now know who bought our boards.” The company is trying to build a community whose members can help one another.
There is one problem. So far, few “members” have written in to the so-called community. “We have little idea how those buyers -- who haven’t asked us questions -- are doing with our board. For that matter, we don’t even know if they actually opened the box we shipped.”
'Do it for credit'
Just to be clear, there is nothing new about the maker movement. For decades, DYI guys have tinkered away, happily getting their hands dirty with real hardware. Two things transformed the traditional DYI movement into a broader maker movement, according to Sagar Jethani, head of content at element14, owned by a global distributor, Premier Farnell: “the pricing [of boards] and the Internet.”
Priced below $100, even if you can’t get it working to its full capability, you don’t have to feel so bad, Jethani explained. Besides, at $35, Raspberry Pi is positioned as an educational tool, helping students understand how to solve problems using electronics.
The Internet created a tailwind for makers. “If you’re stuck with your DIY project, you can always search your question on Google and get the answer.” Jethani thinks the electronics industry has overcome its initial skepticism toward makers. “They used to ask questions like how many ‘makers’ are really engineers” to whom they can sell their products?
Makers today include everyone from DYIers, to professional engineers, to so-called “weekend warriors.” Labels have become irrelevant.
Distributors like Premier Farnell are finding an opportunity to sell a host of components ranging from LEDs, sensors, and passives to CAD soft and even oscilloscopes to this new breed of buyers. As they get to know makers, they realize they have “a lifecycle of future products” to offer them, he explained.
So, it’s good news for distributors who stock a vast array of components. But what about chip vendors?
For one, Freescale's CEO takes a long view on the maker movement. "To a large extent our energies are focused on the universities and even the high school level," said Gregg Lowe in an interview with EE Times. It's not just DIY, he said, it's do it for credit, as a way to get engineers hooked in early to Freescale products.
Huge gap
That said, the reality is that there remains a huge gap between the two ends of the spectrum. On one end, there are small guys who want to become the next NEST, but can’t buy chips in small quantities to test the market. On the other hand, big chip vendors are used to selling chips to name brands in bulk, and they tend not to know how to price a handful of chips for small guys.
Distributors see themselves at the crossroads of semiconductor companies and board vendors. They believe they’re in the best position to steer those two suppliers toward the dream board that makers are looking for.
But chip vendors need to get more creative if they want the maker movement to become more than just a sideshow. Let me be clear. Chip vendors love open source communities for one reason. As long as they enable small and medium entities to design a variety of new devices, it solves the pesky problem of hand-holding OEMs.
Take wearable devices. Chip vendors can't afford to spare resources for every wearable startup. It sucks the life out of them. We are no longer in the old era when chip vendors could spend a lot of money hiring field application engineers to support their customers.
To find a gem out of millions (a leading wearable device vendor who is neither Sony nor Samsung) won’t be easy. The chip vendor’s dream scenario is to discover or build an open source community where friends help friends -- free. That hasn’t happened yet. Who knows if it ever will?
Because that ideal is a long shot, chip vendors still need to take chances -- by picking the designers and developers whom they deem worthy of support. In that sense, Marvell might have the right idea. It is selectively working with a few people who initially jumped in and got their hands on Kinoma Create at Indiegogo. Marvell is supporting them in an effort to create superstars, according to Hoddie. Every chip company who wants to sell its chips still needs superstars.
One more thing. As element14’s Jethani put it, there has to be a balance. He equated makers with Miracle Grow and the conventional volume chip business with a lawn. He said, “Too much Miracle Grow? You kill the lawn.”
责编：Quentin
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