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> I'm not convinced "Arduino has kinda dropped the ball" While Arduino is strong in many regards and was a big improvement on the status quo when it came out i
by michaelt 3y ago
> I'm not convinced "Arduino has kinda dropped the ball"
While Arduino is strong in many regards and was a big improvement on the status quo when it came out in ~2005, they weren't very fast to respond to the rise of the esp8266 and super-low-cost boards made in China.
For a long time their cheapest product was the Uno R3 (with a 16 MHz 8-bit ATmega328) for about $25 while you could buy a Wemos D1 mini (with a 160 MHz 32-bit esp8266) for $2 - or an Uno clone on aliexpress for $3.
Arduino have updated their product line since then (the Uno R4 Minima offers a 48MHz 32-bit RA4M1 for $19) and it's understandable they wanted to retain compatibility with their 5v shield ecosystem. But they were definitely slow to respond to a changing market.
- jacquesm 3y agoSure, they're not perfect. But they're still in business and their volume is as large as it ever was. The parts stores where I go have whole walls dedicated to Arduino and clones, Raspberry Pi's maybe and other stuff not at all.
- pathartl 3y agoIt's wild to me that they still offer the Mega 2560 Rev3 for nearly $50 with a USB-B port.
- jacquesm 3y agoThe fact that they do is what makes them a safe bet to use. Better expensive and available than unavailable. One the most annoying features of hardware work is that whatever you base your product on tends to disappear in smoke just when you hit production.
- KaiserPro 3y ago> big improvement on the status quo when it came out in ~2005, I agree. If anything its an understatement. I could, as a normal person outside academia, without a structured learning environment, do microcontrollers, affordably. Not only that, I could make amazing things with it. sure there was the basic stamp, but that was well, basic.