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

[Mike Thompson]

On Sat, May 26, 2012 at 5:09 PM, Moo Cow <magcrap at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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

Ian, well said.  I was going to write a response to Gordan, but I'm
glad you did it first.  I'm not sure where some of the vitriol for the
RPi comes from, but I would suggest to admire them for what they did
right, learn from what they did wrong and move on.

Mike