I subscribed to this list a week ago. Most of the messages are technical so I hope this message is not out of place. When I learned about wearable computers, I fell in love with the concept; to own one, better still (if somewhat ambitious), to build one! However, after a reality check, a couple of questions came to mind. I hope you guys won't mind answering them: 1) Is it really feasible to build one's own? Would the scenerio be that in a few months (or years), China and/or Taiwan begin to roll out cheaper, smaller, faster wearables rendering obsolete or cost-prohibitive to build? Put another way, would wearable computers eventually be like: a) desktop PCs whereby one has a choice between buying a brand-name PC, buying a generic PC, and buying the parts to build one's own PC..... or b) laptop PCs whereby (to the best of my knowledge) one has little choice but to buy a prepackaged box with may be, limited upgradability of hard drive and RAM. 2) What is parts availability like along the Pacific Rim? I live in Bangkok, Thailand. I could order over the net if there were on-line suppliers. I haven't looked that hard but if some suppliers are recommended it would help. 3) Would this make sense? To get my toes wet with a low-cost entry, could I start out with a desktop PC and play around with input and output devices like the twiddler and head-mounted displays? Portability would be sacrificed but, like I said, I could get my toes wet before dipping my feet in the water. I assemble my own computers so at least one hurdle is already crossed. 4) What type of technical background is necessary? Could a technically-impaired person like me (outside of building/upgrading my own PCs) survive? TIA Shaggy -- Subcription/unsubscription/info requests: send e-mail with subject of "subscribe", "unsubscribe", or "info" toWear-Hard Mailing List Archive (searchable): http://wearables.blu.org
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