[Arm-netbook] R-Pi Only Better and More Available?

[Moo Cow]

Gordan Bobic <gordan at bobich.net> wrote in news:4FC113BE.9030409 at bobich.net:

> On 05/26/2012 05:59 PM, moo cow wrote:
>> The RPi, people IMHO did most everything right and for the right
>> reasons
> They did _some_ things right. Their choice of SoC is questionable, and 
> their choice of 128MB and 256MB versions was downright dire - to the 
> point where they are finally starting to twig that 256MB isn't enough 
> and sweeping under the carpet that they were ever going to make the 
> 128MB version (which I am pretty convinced will now never see the light 
> of day).
>> until their complete lack of commercial and manufacturing
>> experience hit them like a ton of bricks right at the end.
> That was just the icing on the cake that made the product 6+ months late 
> and 50% more expensive than the expectations they had set. All this was 
> on top of reneging on the promise to have it built in UK. Having them 
> built in UK was a loudly advertised fact in the second half of last 
> year, supporting British industry, etc. that gave them a lot of 
> publicity. Until they did the maths and gave all those that supported 
> them for patriotic reasons the finger and instead had them built in 
> China - where the manufacturer botched the order that lead to the whole 
> batch having to be replaced.
> Seems to me that they did an awful lot wrong, on every level, from 
> choice of components to implementation and ethics.
>> Since day
>> one other Techies seem to have had an insane jealously of them for
>> being brave enough to stick their necks out and being the first to
>> take the risk to actually do something ... its sad they have made a
>> right royal cock up right at the end after the hard bit has been done
>> so well and hopefully they can get over it and move on to design a
>> whole series of pi's and learn their lessons.
> Can you summarise for me what exactly they did right? While I credit 
> them fully for doing _something_ (this is very commendable in itself), 
> and making enough noise to make a lot more people look at ARM machines 
> in general instead of x86, I don't think their actual product and 
> handling thereof particularly covered them in glory.
>> In terms of the via device .. why would it get anyone excited about it
>> ?  at a retail price probably 2x the pi's if it ever sees the light of
>> day in its current form  .. i'd sooner pay a bit more and get
>> something like a 1GB SATA A10 Olimex board ;-)
> Or a CuBox for €99.
> The most appealing things about the APC are:
> - *TX form factor is massively convenient, bolts in straight into a 
> standard chassis
> - Half the price of a SheevaPlug for similar spec (but more USB ports, 
> VGA out)
> Gordan


Gordan hi,

I think you have to start with their aims, not to generate a profit or 
monetise patents but to produce a product and support infrastructure to 
help teach kids to program (very much like the original BBC Micro and 
infrastructure in the 80's).  

They work for Broadcom and I'm sure without this it wouldnt have happened 
as Broadcom do a fair bit in the UK education wise (as a lot of the large 
US companies do to their credit) so they didnt have to worry about MOQ's 
(and i suspect paying upfront)  etc but of course they were constrained to 
the Broadcom SOC.  IMHO they recognised that they needed to hit USD35 from 
day 1 and keep to it for the B and they have kept to it.  If the SOC isnt 
constrained to 256M RAM then i'm sure that decision was to ensure they hit 
the USD 35 target (less complexity as well as component cost).  For their 
target market kids and schools I'm sure 256M will be fine.

Fundamentally the pi kit is a means to an end and strategically they will 
need to decide pretty soon if not already whether they will open the 
foundation to other hardware or embark on a pi2 etc and keep the hardware 
limited to pi (far easier now as they have a known brand, customers, track 
record etc and presumably a bit of cashflow).

Take a look at the pi site to see how it's evolving ... take a look at 
their wiki and forum and FAQ ... its moving on slowly but moving ... 
   
Now in terms of building things in the UK, they are back office guys who 
wear tin foil hats doing a good deed .. they have little commercial or 
manufacturing experience clearly and they made a few whoppers (as many 
people starting businesses do) .. one of them believing that you can make 
these products in the UK with our (relatively compared to elsewhere outside 
Western Europe) inflexible and highly regulated/taxed labour market and 
lack of manufacturing flexibility and structure  .. a painful learning 
lesson for them.

In terms of doing things right, they had an idea, they created it, they 
funded it, they brought it to market, they have created a huge demand ... 
they kept to their original price and spec. ... and of course they put the 
spotlight on IT education in schools .. all of this is a damned hard thing 
to do .. just look at this forums efforts to do a similar thing as an 
illustration of how hard such a thing is to do.

I suspect neither you or I fit the profile of a typical pi customer, for me 
if Olimex can deliver in the next few months a 1GB SATA A10 board with 
ethernet and a SD/usb port for around 55-60 Euro's (excl VAT and delivery) 
then they will have me as a customer as that fits my needs perfectly.


rgds

ian