Kickstarter idea (bitcoin price LED ticker) - page 3.

General

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Quote from: f3tus on May 20, 2014, 05:52:32 PM

Someone on Reddit uses this:

http://imgur.com/b0eHYfK
http://www.dreamcheeky.com/led-message-board
https://github.com/MorbZ/NodeUsbLed

Though unfortunately must be connected to a computer.

Paired up with a buddy of mine that's an EE. Going to talk about costs, labor, etc. and potentially go through with this.

Will provide updates.

f3tus

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Someone on Reddit uses this:

http://imgur.com/b0eHYfK
http://www.dreamcheeky.com/led-message-board
https://github.com/MorbZ/NodeUsbLed

Though unfortunately must be connected to a computer.

ranlo

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Activity: 1988

Merit: 1007

Quote from: f3tus on May 20, 2014, 05:39:05 AM

Quote from: ranlo on May 20, 2014, 02:54:43 AM

I'm not saying it's not doable... I just don't think the numbers make sense right now.

I agree. Personally, I'd say the limit would probably be some 1000 sales at first. But that's if the ticker was reasonably priced, 20-30$, which seems impossible.

MSP430 - $10
16x2 LCD - $10

Then assuming a wireless device, a wireless module which is around $20+. Maybe another 5-10$ for the rest of the components...

Maybe someone should start this Kickstarter project anyway, with the price range at 50-60$. Who knows, it might turn profitable. You wouldn't waste your own money anyway...

As for a device connected to the PC via USB or router via RJ45... I wouldn't buy it even if it was $10.

I think market research would be a better idea. Try to gauge how many people are interested via the forums and Twitter. Along the way, you're bound to find someone able and capable to make it happen, and the community showing interest could push someone to make the move.

f3tus

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Quote from: colin012 on May 20, 2014, 12:16:08 PM

That's true but you need a larger amount of money to do that and I am very broke.

Hence the Kickstarter campaign for crowdfunding the project...

colin012

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Quote from: General on May 20, 2014, 11:44:59 AM

Quote from: colin012 on May 20, 2014, 11:20:41 AM

Quote from: f3tus on May 14, 2014, 12:59:44 PM

Hi,

Could somebody who knows about electronics and programming please make a prototype bitcoin price ticker: http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Bitcoin-Price-Ticker-almost-from-scratch-us/

Preferably wireless, so it can be put on a wall or wherever. Additionally, allow to set a "limit," that when the bitcoin price drops below the limit, trigger an alarm sound.

If this can be done and sold for ~30$, I bet it'd turn into profit. I'd certainly buy it. In the example above, the components alone cost $60, and that's too much...

It wouldn't be that hard to make using Arduino. Only thing is that the components would cost over $30 by them selves. I think $100 would be a more reasonable price.

Agreed. I'm sure production costs would go down if someone purchased materials in a larger amount.

That's true but you need a larger amount of money to do that and I am very broke.

General

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Activity: 106

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Quote from: colin012 on May 20, 2014, 11:20:41 AM

Quote from: f3tus on May 14, 2014, 12:59:44 PM

Hi,

Could somebody who knows about electronics and programming please make a prototype bitcoin price ticker: http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Bitcoin-Price-Ticker-almost-from-scratch-us/

Preferably wireless, so it can be put on a wall or wherever. Additionally, allow to set a "limit," that when the bitcoin price drops below the limit, trigger an alarm sound.

If this can be done and sold for ~30$, I bet it'd turn into profit. I'd certainly buy it. In the example above, the components alone cost $60, and that's too much...

It wouldn't be that hard to make using Arduino. Only thing is that the components would cost over $30 by them selves. I think $100 would be a more reasonable price.

Agreed. I'm sure production costs would go down if someone purchased materials in a larger amount.

colin012

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Activity: 87

Merit: 10

Quote from: f3tus on May 14, 2014, 12:59:44 PM

Hi,

Could somebody who knows about electronics and programming please make a prototype bitcoin price ticker: http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Bitcoin-Price-Ticker-almost-from-scratch-us/

Preferably wireless, so it can be put on a wall or wherever. Additionally, allow to set a "limit," that when the bitcoin price drops below the limit, trigger an alarm sound.

If this can be done and sold for ~30$, I bet it'd turn into profit. I'd certainly buy it. In the example above, the components alone cost $60, and that's too much...

It wouldn't be that hard to make using Arduino. Only thing is that the components would cost over $30 by them selves. I think $100 would be a more reasonable price.

f3tus

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Activity: 317

Merit: 275

Quote from: Bibop on May 20, 2014, 09:34:36 AM

so why not an easy app to alarm in your phone even you not at home?

Yeah, there already are several... But having an actual object on the wall/desk that shows you the price 24/7, like a digital clock, is kinda "fancier." And I and many others have WiFi on phones turned off during "sleep hours" to not waste battery life, so I could potentially wake up and the price dropped to $50, lol! Extremely unlikely, but yeah...

Bibop

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Quote from: evilimprint on May 14, 2014, 07:05:20 PM

30$ would hardly pay for the board and chip set let alone the screen, wi-fi technology.. custom made boot loader and software to make it all work correctly. best way i could think of do this is use the core parts of a cellphone and try developing on a android operating system.. but even then the screen would not even be big enough for you to hang it on the wall and see.. i am more the capable of developing this but 30$ would be impossible.

so why not an easy app to alarm in your phone even you not at home?

f3tus

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Activity: 317

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Quote from: ranlo on May 20, 2014, 02:54:43 AM

I'm not saying it's not doable... I just don't think the numbers make sense right now.

I agree. Personally, I'd say the limit would probably be some 1000 sales at first. But that's if the ticker was reasonably priced, 20-30$, which seems impossible.

MSP430 - $10
16x2 LCD - $10

Then assuming a wireless device, a wireless module which is around $20+. Maybe another 5-10$ for the rest of the components...

Maybe someone should start this Kickstarter project anyway, with the price range at 50-60$. Who knows, it might turn profitable. You wouldn't waste your own money anyway...

As for a device connected to the PC via USB or router via RJ45... I wouldn't buy it even if it was $10.

ranlo

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Activity: 1988

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Quote from: General on May 20, 2014, 02:35:49 AM

Quote from: ranlo on May 20, 2014, 01:39:46 AM

Quote from: General on May 20, 2014, 01:27:04 AM

Quote from: ranlo on May 20, 2014, 01:23:47 AM

Quote from: f3tus on May 16, 2014, 05:29:00 PM

Ok, so I guess that's why it hasn't been done yet. It would cost too much, and there wouldn't be enough demand to lower that cost. A few people would buy it, but not enough for any profit.

As Bitcoin takes off more and more, I think that there would be enough demand. The problem is more along the lines of the up-front cost. Someone would need to front the money for thousands of them to offset the high costs, and then basically sit on them while Bitcoin rides the train north.

If the right team was assembled and it was crowd-funded, the up-front costs wouldn't be too outrageous.

I don't think we're at the right time for crowd funding something like this though... I agree that it'd be viable later on, but right now the demand is too low.

With a well-developed product that functions properly and looks good, I think $100K USD in sales in the first month isn't far fetched.
That alone would be impressive for a normal new product. And then when you throw on top that it's a product specific to Bitcoin, that's even more impressive.

I think over 1-2 years a product like this could generate a whack ton of cash and if the demand is no more, discontinue it.

At a sales cost of, say $20 (I think going above this is going to be tough to find a lot of buyers), that's 5000 sales. This is a very niche product and 5000 would represent 2.5% of the community (estimated at 1m people). That's a lot.

I'm not saying it's not doable... I just don't think the numbers make sense right now.

General

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Activity: 106

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Quote from: ranlo on May 20, 2014, 01:39:46 AM

Quote from: General on May 20, 2014, 01:27:04 AM

Quote from: ranlo on May 20, 2014, 01:23:47 AM

Quote from: f3tus on May 16, 2014, 05:29:00 PM

Ok, so I guess that's why it hasn't been done yet. It would cost too much, and there wouldn't be enough demand to lower that cost. A few people would buy it, but not enough for any profit.

As Bitcoin takes off more and more, I think that there would be enough demand. The problem is more along the lines of the up-front cost. Someone would need to front the money for thousands of them to offset the high costs, and then basically sit on them while Bitcoin rides the train north.

If the right team was assembled and it was crowd-funded, the up-front costs wouldn't be too outrageous.

I don't think we're at the right time for crowd funding something like this though... I agree that it'd be viable later on, but right now the demand is too low.

With a well-developed product that functions properly and looks good, I think $100K USD in sales in the first month isn't far fetched.
That alone would be impressive for a normal new product. And then when you throw on top that it's a product specific to Bitcoin, that's even more impressive.

I think over 1-2 years a product like this could generate a whack ton of cash and if the demand is no more, discontinue it.

ranlo

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Activity: 1988

Merit: 1007

Quote from: General on May 20, 2014, 01:27:04 AM

Quote from: ranlo on May 20, 2014, 01:23:47 AM

Quote from: f3tus on May 16, 2014, 05:29:00 PM

Ok, so I guess that's why it hasn't been done yet. It would cost too much, and there wouldn't be enough demand to lower that cost. A few people would buy it, but not enough for any profit.

As Bitcoin takes off more and more, I think that there would be enough demand. The problem is more along the lines of the up-front cost. Someone would need to front the money for thousands of them to offset the high costs, and then basically sit on them while Bitcoin rides the train north.

If the right team was assembled and it was crowd-funded, the up-front costs wouldn't be too outrageous.

I don't think we're at the right time for crowd funding something like this though... I agree that it'd be viable later on, but right now the demand is too low.

General

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Activity: 106

Merit: 10

Quote from: ranlo on May 20, 2014, 01:23:47 AM

Quote from: f3tus on May 16, 2014, 05:29:00 PM

Ok, so I guess that's why it hasn't been done yet. It would cost too much, and there wouldn't be enough demand to lower that cost. A few people would buy it, but not enough for any profit.

As Bitcoin takes off more and more, I think that there would be enough demand. The problem is more along the lines of the up-front cost. Someone would need to front the money for thousands of them to offset the high costs, and then basically sit on them while Bitcoin rides the train north.

If the right team was assembled and it was crowd-funded, the up-front costs wouldn't be too outrageous.

ranlo

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Activity: 1988

Merit: 1007

Quote from: f3tus on May 16, 2014, 05:29:00 PM

Ok, so I guess that's why it hasn't been done yet. It would cost too much, and there wouldn't be enough demand to lower that cost. A few people would buy it, but not enough for any profit.

As Bitcoin takes off more and more, I think that there would be enough demand. The problem is more along the lines of the up-front cost. Someone would need to front the money for thousands of them to offset the high costs, and then basically sit on them while Bitcoin rides the train north.

General

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If I knew a good EE I'd definitely pair up and do this with the proper funding.

bitsmichel

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Quote

Yeah, but it's a lot nicer if you have a ticker on the wall like a digital clock of sorts... Ah well. I suppose the hardcore traders with tons of bitcoin would buy it even for 60-100$, but I wouldn't.

You can skip production costs, if you produce in another continent. For example, you can get one of this flying drone helicopters for about $10 in China (I have one). Of course, you have shipping costs;

Perhaps a simple serial/usb cable to a tiny board, with the LCD attached. Prints whatever data you send from the computer.
Here is a list of some cheap boards : http://www.intorobotics.com/alternative-arduino-boards/
Example prices:
MSP: USD $10
Teensy : USD $16.00
Funnel : USD $16.84

For example the MSP has input/output pins for easy integration of external devices. It does not come with an LCD screen tho. Im guessing the total cost would be around $20 to $25 to produce in the cheapest way possible using standard boards.

Alternatively, you could link the LCD screen directly to your computer and use computer software to interact with it. Assuming the LCD has some mico-controller attached to it.

f3tus

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Quote from: bitsmichel on May 16, 2014, 06:50:11 PM

There are other reasons. Mobile/wearable devices get more common and you can run software on them. To make separate hardware is more expensive.

Yeah, but it's a lot nicer if you have a ticker on the wall like a digital clock of sorts... Ah well. I suppose the hardcore traders with tons of bitcoin would buy it even for 60-100$, but I wouldn't.

mrflibblehat

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Easy to do. would cost about $80 - $100 just for the parts though, If you fancy a project you could have a go yourself with an Arduino and a old cellphone LCD

bitsmichel

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Quote

Ok, so I guess that's why it hasn't been done yet. It would cost too much, and there wouldn't be enough demand to lower that cost. A few people would buy it, but not enough for any profit.

There are other reasons. Mobile/wearable devices get more common and you can run software on them. To make separate hardware is more expensive.

Instead of going for the mass market, why not make it an exclusive product?

Topic: Kickstarter idea (bitcoin price LED ticker) - page 3. (Read 5212 times)