To my mind the call for 2GB without understanding cost & battery implications is sounding increasingly like Dogma & I'm inherently suspicious of slavishly following Dogma....
To my mind arguments for increased specs this close to production launch is worse than pointless. It is actually, effectively, talking the project down. To make it even worse, it is an argument for additional specs based on a combination of ignorance and selfishness.
Damaging the project:
By continually harping on what you're perceiving as and framing as a negative, this line of argument leads to potential buyers distress of whether or not the device will work for them. There is no point of realistic reference being used - but plenty of fear being spread nice and thick. These threads of, "2 GB RAM isn't enough!" are starting to pile up. So far, there have been no actual realistic usage cases presented where 2GB is not adequate, but the sheer negative drumbeat is likely to or has already started to cause an impact.
Ignorance:
The tests HAVE been done on the dev board to determine how much RAM makes sense with the OMAP5 that the project centered around 2+ years ago. Please go back and check the relevant posts by TrashyMG. 2GB is not only adequate to the tasks the Pyra is designed for, it is on the upper end of practical usability with the OMAP5. Beyond that, the RAM would simply be near-line storage waiting for the processor to catch up. Additional RAM would also DOUBLE the time needed to go to and recover from standby mode (low power mode with RAM contents dumped to storage). There are costs involved, not just in the parts but in re-engineering what has already been set up and parts that have already been purchased. These calls for changes completely ignore the product development stage. ED has already done a pre-production board population run. This means that spools of chips and many Euros in set up time have already been solidified. These decisions are already done and gone for this round of this device. Could a new/bigger/better spec come along 6+ months in for a processor board with 4GB or 8GB of RAM on it? Sure, why not? That upgrade capability is part of the design spec. Having room in the product production for easily created upgrade parts as the components become more available and less expensive is a historically validated business model.
Selfishness:
To continually harp on an irrational specification chase for an outcome without any actual realistic usability gain, ignoring actual experts AND practical results, is simply a matter of feeding your own ego. On multiple occasions you've referenced the 'other side' as being for 2GB. You have that incorrect. We are for ED having the freedom to use what makes sense from his and others dev board testing, experience, design and intention for the device. Why we are fighting against your campaign is because you are picking an arbitrary number, comparing the Pyra to an illogical field of other devices, and claiming that failure is inevitable if we don't all see it your way.
2GB of RAM on the Pyra IS GREATER THAN 4GB of RAM on your laptop.
The Pyra won't run Windows. It will not have the immediate sacrifice of 2.5GB of RAM to the OS that Windows systems encounter. 2GB of RAM on the Pyra should leave ~1.8 GB free. 4GB of RAM on a Windows machine would leave about 1.5 GB free.
Android uses RAM differently.
My phone may have 3GB of RAM, but frankly beyond about 256MB of it only gets used by applications that I have left (can't close anything for real) that are simply sitting in near-line storage if/should I ever want to access them again before rebooting. The reality is that 95%+ of Android phone applications run the same on any Android phone from 256MB on up. The original 128MB RAM Android phones still work just fine. The spec chase for these are simply justification for 'new' and cleats to attach marketing to the 'new'. The additional RAM isn't 'bad', it simply does not add performance on the scale that people seem to credit it for.
More is not always better. There is a lot more to go into the RAM decision.
Lets consider the NAND for a moment. The knee jerk reaction for people is that they want it to be as large as possible. However, there are actually three factors to consider: size, speed and cost. We can assume that cost needs to be controlled to under a given level - so it can more or less be held constant. The device has the uSD slot that it can boot from that is capable of up to 200GB at 90MB/s using current uSD cards (theoretical max speed of 104MB/s). The NAND on the other hand is capable of theoretical speeds of up to 208MB/s and the largest NAND I have seen that would fit is 128GB. I have voiced that I prefer for ED & team to figure out their rough price point then select the FASTEST NAND that they can find within their budget that is large enough to run the OS & swap from. 4GB NAND might fit the OS, but doesn't leave much space. 8GB is probably fine. 16GB is plenty - capacious even. Anything larger than that starts getting expensive due to the size and would require lowering the speed to be able to afford the size. So, hopefully the project is finding the fastest 8GB or 16GB eMMC NAND that will fit the budget. Note, I'm not wanting it to be HUGE and MAX speed. I'm asking for it to be within reason - but weighted toward maximizing advantage of the NAND's interface speed. I hope it works out that way. Maybe there is more to consider in the RAM decision than just, "4GB is more than 2GB". Like the NAND, less may very well make more sense than more for reasons you and I might not even be aware of.
I know you're going to continue on your "I/we need 4GB" holy war, regardless of what any voices of reason say. I would prefer that ED & team have the flexibility to decide quantity and type of device based on facts and reason instead of hype and intimidation.
So, can we let ED & team make the choice? You have stated your point, it's clear that they heard you.
IMHO it is time to back off and support the project, in whatever ED & team decide is best, and let the egos relax. Can you?
That also includes about 1GB of other stuff running but that shouldn't be an issue.
