Save that Old PDA: Run Reware, Play Pd Musical Creations, Android (OFFF, NYC)
Reware your PDA from Hans-Christoph Steiner on Vimeo.
Give a hoot – don’t pollute with your old mobile gear. Make musical creations with it instead, powered by Linux.
Sure, there are wonderful things happening with mobile music applications on platforms like the shiny, new iPhone. But remember how technology was supposed to democratize access? Lots of us don’t have the money for a new iPhone or iPod. And how many of us have outdated Pocket PCs and Palms collecting dust? How many of these highly toxic devices get thrown away?
Linux to the rescue.
One of the biggest hits of my talk at the OFFF Festival in Lisbon, Portugal was the mention of the Reware, a project by Hans-Christopher Steiner, who is doing research at New York’s Eyebeam. He has literally a box full of old PDAs – the kind a lot of people would give away at this point – which he has rescued in order to reuse as development platforms and musical devices.
There’s something just stunning about watching an old Pocket PC transformed into an interesting musical device. It’s like the feeling you get when you save a puppy with the help of a rescue / adoption agency, and instead of being put down, Buster turns out to be an agility champion. (Sorry. I really love dogs.)
For a sample project, here you can dual-boot Linux on an old Palm:
Reware your PDA: dual boot Linux on a Palm TX from an SD card
Once you’ve done that, you can run your own creations and even Pd patches on your mobile. Even old iPods can work.
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