The future of our hobby (was Re: ImageDisk project is canceled)

[Jos Dreesen]

>
>> There will never be a hacker-friendly mobile phone for instance.
>> Component level repair on those is impossible, even though I have the
>
> Why? OK, I'd not want to work on the RF side (too many risks of sending
> out spurious signals), but what is the prroblem, say, with replacing
> compoentns in the control circuit. They look like normal SMDs.

A 400+ pin MCU/DSP in a micro BGA package, and no accessible lead 
whatsoever.
No way of attaching a scope or logic analyzer.
And they are a pain to realign and resolder if you have to replace them.
Definitly not hackerfriendly.

If they were, somebody would have made a RISC PC with one.


						Regards, Jos