Why does the Mavic air 2 not use DJI Go4?

[rehkram]

I stand corrected re GO4. I'd like more details if you have a link or two to share.

Re. the 128 bit article, utter tosh. I don't know where to begin trashing the guy's profound lack of imagination

And I did say "in a few years". That was purposely vague, my crystal ball is currently down for a graphics upgrade. Currently two years is a long time in computing, in future, who knows?

 

[Dave Maine]

The feature lack is to help sell more expensive drones with more features. 32 bit or 64 bit is a red herring.

 

[Deleted member 114292]

I stand corrected re GO4. I'd like more details if you have a link or two to share.

Re. the 128 bit article, utter tosh. I don't know where to begin trashing the guy's profound lack of imagination

And I did say "in a few years". That was purposely vague, my crystal ball is currently down for a graphics upgrade. Currently two years is a long time in computing, in future, who knows?

The thing is there is no foreseeable need for 128 bit general Purpose (GP) machines. As it is we only use 48 bits of address bus, which lets you address 249TB of ram/flash storage, and we still have more bits if we need them. As for integer numerical computation 64 bits covers most all needs, and those that need it get special processors (like a DSP). Crypto applications need super large integers, but 128 bits is not going help there because even 128 bits is not enough. Graphics there is no need for more that 64 bit CPU wise either, and if they do then they get a GPU..
The point is a GP CPU has no need for 128 bits. You be making everyone pay for for hardware 99.99% have no need for, not to mention power usage
Which is why no chip maker has even been proposing it - they could do it right now but they haven't because they don't see a market for it.

 

[iAMiRONMAN]

I assume DJI plans to add ‘pay to unlock’ features in the fly app going forward.

 

[shutterup]

It certainly looks that way considering how utterly devoid of detail and features it is vs Go4

I assume DJI plans to add ‘pay to unlock’ features in the fly app going forward.

 

[rehkram]

My other favorite informal "law" is Parkinson's Law. I prefer the less cynical interpretation of it that states "Work expands in proportion to the resources allocated to it".

There was no foreseeable need for smartphones, and many other things we now take for granted, when Apollo 11 launched with laughably (to us) rudimentary computing power on board.

To those who believe that Moore's Law has hit a technology wall, and/or that there is no foreseeable demand to drive continual progress in this aspect, just keep watching that space.

You may be thinking, "you can't prove you're right". Likewise, you can't prove I'm wrong either. Only time will show, should we all live long enough

Would your mobile phone be powerful enough to get you to the moon?

Here is how our mobile phones compare with the computer that landed man on the moon in 1969.

theconversation.com

 

[tbernardi]

As a person in the software roadmap side of things for a living my opinion is the Fly app is their new platform going forward.. However, they are breaking off these cheaper drones (mini and air 2) with limited features as they go through their sprint process and add in features as they go. So hopefully the fly app only gets better as time goes on... this makes sense if they will deprecate the old system completely but we most likely wont know that until we see what the mavic 3 will be running on.

Just my opinion and I have been wrong before but this is how it is done for other platform software so you have gradual adoption and dont **** off your old base while minimizing the development and effort needed on the legacy system in parallel.

Definitely agree. It will get better. My biggest complaint... I can not see the number of satellites on the screen, even if I put reading glasses on my face.

 

[rehkram]

All Fly app users share your pain on that one. As we know, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease". Are you listening Dji?

 

[kwolfskill]

The thing is there is no foreseeable need for 128 bit general Purpose (GP) machines. As it is we only use 48 bits of address bus, which lets you address 249TB of ram/flash storage, and we still have more bits if we need them. As for integer numerical computation 64 bits covers most all needs, and those that need it get special processors (like a DSP). Crypto applications need super large integers, but 128 bits is not going help there because even 128 bits is not enough. Graphics there is no need for more that 64 bit CPU wise either, and if they do then they get a GPU..
The point is a GP CPU has no need for 128 bits. You be making everyone pay for for hardware 99.99% have no need for, not to mention power usage
Which is why no chip maker has even been proposing it - they could do it right now but they haven't because they don't see a market for it.

And in 1943, Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM said : "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers". Never assume there will never be a need/desire for more than we can imagine now.

 

[Aaron24]

You can use Compyle to allow your MA2 to use Dji Go instead of the Fly app.

 

[Dakarenduro]

The feature lack is to help sell more expensive drones with more features. 32 bit or 64 bit is a red herring.

Agreed.
To me, simple. Why would they release a product at half the cost of their flagship model and give it the same feature set?

business one-oh-one!

 

[Deleted member 114292]

And in 1943, Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM said : "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers". Never assume there will never be a need/desire for more than we can imagine now.

So how come most of us drive a four or six cylinder car?
After all more is better right?
Eight cylinders must be twice as good as four-cylinder’s and while you’re at it how about a 16 cylinder car?
Because we just don’t need that. And probably never will.

 

[Hauptmann]

And in 1943, Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM said : "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers". Never assume there will never be a need/desire for more than we can imagine now.

Actually, Watson was right. I do have five computers. How did he know?

 

[Johnmcl7]

And in 1943, Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM said : "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers". Never assume there will never be a need/desire for more than we can imagine now.

In the quoted post the user mentions 'forseeable' and in the previous post 'in our lifetime' (1943 is well outwith my lifetime and most others here) which I think is correct. The move from 32-bit to 64-bit was initially relatively slow because for most people the 4GB addressable memory wasn't a limitation and the shift started to happen when regular machines did start needing more than 4GB memory. A key point to understand is that the increase is exponential so while 32-bit to 64-bit doesn't sound much, the increase in addressable memory is vast, a 32-bit memory system can address a maximum of 4GB memory but a 64-bit system has a limit of 17,179,869,184GB. On top of that it's getting increasingly difficult to shrink transistors and increase density, Intel moved to a process where every second generation of processor would be a die shrink then moved to every third generation and now they're in tremendous trouble trying to move off 14nm. Each die shrink isn't just taking longer but they're smaller leaps and unlikely to be able to sustain anything like the changes needed to go past 64-bit limitations and instead it's likely we'll have a completely different way of handling processing.

Anyway that's getting radically off topic and I think the simple answer as pointed out a few times is that DJI are wanting to differentiate their product range which is why they've chosen the Fly app rather than DJI Go for the Air 2.

So how come most of us drive a four or six cylinder car?
After all more is better right?
Eight cylinders must be twice as good as four-cylinder’s and while you’re at it how about a 16 cylinder car?
Because we just don’t need that. And probably never will.

Speak for yourself, I'm very pleased with my 16 cylinder Bugatti Chiron on my desk

 

[Deleted member 114292]

In the quoted post the user mentions 'forseeable' and in the previous post 'in our lifetime' (1943 is well outwith my lifetime and most others here) which I think is correct. The move from 32-bit to 64-bit was initially relatively slow because for most people the 4GB addressable memory wasn't a limitation and the shift started to happen when regular machines did start needing more than 4GB memory. A key point to understand is that the increase is exponential so while 32-bit to 64-bit doesn't sound much, the increase in addressable memory is vast, a 32-bit memory system can address a maximum of 4GB memory but a 64-bit system has a limit of 17,179,869,184GB. On top of that it's getting increasingly difficult to shrink transistors and increase density, Intel moved to a process where every second generation of processor would be a die shrink then moved to every third generation and now they're in tremendous trouble trying to move off 14nm. Each die shrink isn't just taking longer but they're smaller leaps and unlikely to be able to sustain anything like the changes needed to go past 64-bit limitations and instead it's likely we'll have a completely different way of handling processing.

Anyway that's getting radically off topic and I think the simple answer as pointed out a few times is that DJI are wanting to differentiate their product range which is why they've chosen the Fly app rather than DJI Go for the Air 2.



Speak for yourself, I'm very pleased with my 16 cylinder Bugatti Chiron on my desk

Really? I'm holding out for the la voiture noire - right after the MP3 comes out.

 

[kwolfskill]

Actually, Watson was right. I do have five computers. How did he know?

Only 5? I have that many on my desk, not counting the other ones like my Fitbit smart watch, my iPhone, various tablets on my desk, two Raspbery Pi projects sitting around my office, etc. Yes, we all ended up with more computers than they ever thought we would.

 

[kwolfskill]

Anyway that's getting radically off topic and I think the simple answer as pointed out a few times is that DJI are wanting to differentiate their product range which is why they've chosen the Fly app rather than DJI Go for the Air 2.

Personally, I think you are right. I also wonder if the MA 2 won't be added to the SDK until after the MP 3 comes out, so that they don't cannibalize clearance sales of the of the MP 2.

 

[rehkram]

So how come most of us drive a four or six cylinder car?
After all more is better right?
Eight cylinders must be twice as good as four-cylinder’s and while you’re at it how about a 16 cylinder car?
Because we just don’t need that. And probably never will.

False equivalence. More is definitely better when you're talking about computer memory. Not so much if you're talking about my 1978 3 cylinder John Deere tractor. Runs like a top.

 

[rehkram]

To me, simple. Why would they release a product at half the cost of their flagship model and give it the same feature set?

But at the same time the MA2, which is a big step up from the MM, uses that same half the cost device software. Perhaps because they want us to beta test the s*** out of it for them. This would make sense, it provides a 64 bit platform for rolling out fixes and functionality until they plateau and we're all swooning, or not. At that point it's M3P launch time. It's what I'd do but I've only been a s/w guy and reluctant i/t manager and marketer for 30+ years

In other words, I surmise Dji are feeling under the gun to produce a native 64 bit app (i.e. not a converted legacy 32 bit app) with all the currently expected bells and whistles before they produce a new next tier drone with plenty of useable memory on board. We're the guinea pigs, and it works well enough on my MM so it doesn't worry me.

Smart move Dji. It's mostly about bedding-in the controller & device software, and integration thereof, with the a/c firmware and a couple of other external inputs/outputs I can think of. If the graph follows a straight line I predict, with some hesitation, the more sensor-endowed M2P & M2Z will be, hopefully optionally, next in line for installing Fly.

The folks that are suffering are used to Go 4. Fortunately for me, in this respect anyway, I've never used it. I have watched the youtubes so have a pretty good feel for what Fly is missing. Useful manual video exposure/speed control on the MM is no longer one of them. Dji released an upgrade and it tested-off real good here.

Here's another prediction. If I were on the Dji board I would be pushing for every product to be using the same a/c firmware, controller s/w, and device s/w. Access to functionality would be locked into what a/c you're registered to be flying. I say this as a s/w guy, it's pretty easy to do securely these days and reduces costs big time. The business model is changing. It's more about the software, available memory and security, and less about the copter.

 

[shutterup]

Well this sounds wonderful, runs off to Google.

You can use Compyle to allow your MA2 to use Dji Go instead of the Fly app.