20 minutes ago, SolidState said:
It's amazing how much work went into the X8 now I take another look at it. I don't understand why you wouldn't release it.
Lot's of proof of concept prototype don't get released ... given that it was developed as a proof of concept for the envisioned CX16e, the work that went into it would have stood as good experience before tackling the more ambitious CX16e design.
The reasons to not release this one, or to not release it early, could easily be all of the reasons that have been discussed ... fracturing the CX16 programming ecosystem, cannibalizing the market for the CX16e, the LX8 release framing the later CX16 release and weakening its impact, etc. ... and they may have had some more that we haven't raised.
If the main argument for releasing it in advance of the CX16p crowdfund campaign was to help fund the project, then the better way to both obtain that funding and to ensure the success of the CX16p crowdfund campaign would be to just start crowdfunding the CX16p.
BTW, since FPGA's are well after my time (I checked out at the GAL and EPROM state machine stage), do you remember how much available flashROM is in the X8 project? Is it around the amount in the prior version of the board (128KB)?