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Genuine question - what is the lesson that you think should have been learned? I infer some (justifiable) dissatisfaction in your comment directed at the Pi Fou

by scubbo 3y ago

Genuine question - what is the lesson that you think should have been learned? I infer some (justifiable) dissatisfaction in your comment directed at the Pi Foundation's choice to target B2B - but, if that trend reverses and Pi boards become available to individual consumers again, do you believe there's a reason that consumers should still avoid them? Explicitly, I don't think that "The Pi Foundation might make consumer-harming business decisions again in the future" is a good reason, because a hobbyist who already owns a board is in no way impacted by their future availability (unlike, say, a company which chooses to rely on them, and would have migration costs if they needed a scale that was unavailable).

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ThatPlayer 3y ago
That's similar to my thoughts on it. I'm not going to cut off my nose to spite my face. If I can get a Pi 4 at MSRP, it still provides me more value than any other SBC. I have multiple RK3399 and even RK3588 boards that are faster than the Pi 4, sure. But in my use cases, those faster speeds aren't doing anything so I'd be spending more money for nothing.
bsder 3y ago
> Genuine question - what is the lesson that you think should have been learned? There are other competitors in the space (Beaglebone Black, for example) who got starved of oxygen because the RPi ecosystem dumped below-cost boards into the market. Even worse, some of those competitors (Beaglebone Black, again) are, in fact, more open source that the RPi ever was. The lesson to be learned: Beware of subsidized ecosystem dumping below cost. The party will eventually stop and then you will be left with nothing because of all the alternatives that you let get driven out of the market.
- scubbo 3y ago
  A very reasonable perspective, thank you!
musicale 3y ago
I actually heard Eben Upton present an inspiring vision of affordable single board computers for both home and classroom education and experimentation. He seemed sincere, and the evidence seemed to back him up. That's probably a part of why it felt like a bait-and-switch when they pivoted to business sales. In retrospect it was probably a mistake for anyone to design a course assuming availability of Raspberry Pi boards without a readily available alternative board. Perhaps some relevant lessons are: 1) Businesses, however inspiring their pitch, are strongly motivated by money; customer support is proportional to the amount of money they expect to receive from you in the future 2) Always have second sources and backup plans

by scubbo 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

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ThatPlayer 3y ago

That's similar to my thoughts on it. I'm not going to cut off my nose to spite my face. If I can get a Pi 4 at MSRP, it still provides me more value than any other SBC. I have multiple RK3399 and even RK3588 boards that are faster than the Pi 4, sure. But in my use cases, those faster speeds aren't doing anything so I'd be spending more money for nothing.

bsder 3y ago

> Genuine question - what is the lesson that you think should have been learned? There are other competitors in the space (Beaglebone Black, for example) who got starved of oxygen because the RPi ecosystem dumped below-cost boards into the market. Even worse, some of those competitors (Beaglebone Black, again) are, in fact, more open source that the RPi ever was. The lesson to be learned: Beware of subsidized ecosystem dumping below cost. The party will eventually stop and then you will be left with nothing because of all the alternatives that you let get driven out of the market.

scubbo 3y ago
A very reasonable perspective, thank you!

musicale 3y ago

I actually heard Eben Upton present an inspiring vision of affordable single board computers for both home and classroom education and experimentation. He seemed sincere, and the evidence seemed to back him up. That's probably a part of why it felt like a bait-and-switch when they pivoted to business sales. In retrospect it was probably a mistake for anyone to design a course assuming availability of Raspberry Pi boards without a readily available alternative board. Perhaps some relevant lessons are: 1) Businesses, however inspiring their pitch, are strongly motivated by money; customer support is proportional to the amount of money they expect to receive from you in the future 2) Always have second sources and backup plans