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Makes me sad that they’ll now have to increase profits forever, instead of functioning on their mission and doing what’s right. This may mean moving manufacturi

Makes me sad that they’ll now have to increase profits forever, instead of functioning on their mission and doing what’s right. This may mean moving manufacturing to China, using lower cost components, etc etc.

graphe 2y ago
What is "right"? They haven't been a good value for over 2 years.
- advisedwang 2y ago
  The goal hasn't ever been about producing a device cheaply. It's about supporting education, encouraging tinkering and changing attitudes [1] [1] https://www.raspberrypi.org/about/ https://www.raspberrypi.org/about/
  - FredPret 2y ago
    Every altruistic thing is easier if you're trying to do it with a $10 product rather tham a $100 product, all else being equal
    - davidgnz 2y ago
      Good thing they still offer a $10 product then - the Raspberry Pi Zero.
      - lttlrck 2y ago
        and the RP2040! There is not much to differentiate it with ESP32 at the moment, but it's their first shot at a microcontroller.
  - raegis 2y ago
    "...hasn't ever been..." is not true. Someone above posted an earlier statement from the archive.
- ianburrell 2y ago
  Good value for what? They have never been good value as desktops because the early ones were too slow. Now there are better little computers. But as hobby computer, they are still a good value. There are faster boards and cheaper boards, but which ones are good? More importantly, which ones will be supported in five years? How easy it to install software? I read about distro that promises support, but then have to check the list of hardware it supports. I have six year old Pi 3. I can install latest 64-bit OS on it. For my plans, something small and low power is an advantage.
  - heavyset_go 2y ago
    Hardkernel has supported their ARM boards for 10+ years. The Odroid XU3/XU4 line, for example, was released a decade ago and still has active development from the manufacturer with recent kernels and images.
    - nsteel 2y ago
      I was really excited about those hardkernel boards 10 years until I got one and found I had to use their outdated custom version of Ubuntu and still half of it didn't work. I assume things have gotten better since then but they don't have 10+ years of good support.
marginalia_nu 2y ago
Yeah. I just don't see how they could possibly grow in a way that satisfies the stock market. The only way to create an appearance of such growth is to go Boeing and essentially burn down the house for warmth. For an organization like this, it's basically always step one on an irreversible death spiral.
- bongodongobob 2y ago
  From my experience doing IT in industrial manufacturing, there is a ton of room for them to replace expensive PLCs where they aren't really needed. The company that makes the big fancy automated machines also make the simpler auxillary ones that supplement their main offerings. Since they know how to build with PLCs, that's what they use instead of sticking a Pi or some small form PC in it instead. Stuff like barcode readers on a manufacturing line or some simple piece of QA equipment at the end of the line measuring the height of a bottle or something. Adds thousands of dollars to the BoM but is complete overkill.
  - marginalia_nu 2y ago
    There's strong diminishing returns in this sort of growth. With anything, you can optimize it until you can't. The market requires you to grow forever. How will Raspberry Pi Ltd still be growing in 50 years when the entire orchard of low hanging fruit is long since picked barren?
    - bongodongobob 2y ago
      I don't know, how does any other company do it?
  - chrisjj 2y ago
    > From my experience doing IT in industrial manufacturing, there is a ton of room for them to replace expensive PLCs where they aren't really needed. From my experience with PLCs, they are hardened and robust to the extreme degree required by the harsh environments in which they are used. Last time I looked, the R Pi was the complete opposite. It can be crashed by just a nearby camera flash, and then leave its SD card corrupt to boot. Fine for hobbyists (apparently). Not fine for industrial applications.
pxx 2y ago
The first order bit of better outreach is a low price point, which they've completely lost the plot on. If going public is what takes them to realize it, I'll cheer it on.
WorkerBee28474 2y ago
> Makes me sad that they’ll now have to increase profits forever Providing a return to shareholders does not require increasing profits. Investing constant or declining profits into acquisitions or share buybacks can provide the same returns to shareholders.
jchiu1106 2y ago
Lower cost of components doesn't mean lower quality. What made the cost lower is logistics and the availability of components within the region.
opyate 2y ago
Yup, cue the imminent enshittification. E.g. your Pi6 will require sign-in and come with ads.

graphe 2y ago

What is "right"? They haven't been a good value for over 2 years.

advisedwang 2y ago
The goal hasn't ever been about producing a device cheaply. It's about supporting education, encouraging tinkering and changing attitudes [1] [1] https://www.raspberrypi.org/about/ https://www.raspberrypi.org/about/
- FredPret 2y ago
  Every altruistic thing is easier if you're trying to do it with a $10 product rather tham a $100 product, all else being equal
  - davidgnz 2y ago
    Good thing they still offer a $10 product then - the Raspberry Pi Zero.
    - lttlrck 2y ago
      and the RP2040! There is not much to differentiate it with ESP32 at the moment, but it's their first shot at a microcontroller.
- raegis 2y ago
  "...hasn't ever been..." is not true. Someone above posted an earlier statement from the archive.
ianburrell 2y ago
Good value for what? They have never been good value as desktops because the early ones were too slow. Now there are better little computers. But as hobby computer, they are still a good value. There are faster boards and cheaper boards, but which ones are good? More importantly, which ones will be supported in five years? How easy it to install software? I read about distro that promises support, but then have to check the list of hardware it supports. I have six year old Pi 3. I can install latest 64-bit OS on it. For my plans, something small and low power is an advantage.
- heavyset_go 2y ago
  Hardkernel has supported their ARM boards for 10+ years. The Odroid XU3/XU4 line, for example, was released a decade ago and still has active development from the manufacturer with recent kernels and images.
  - nsteel 2y ago
    I was really excited about those hardkernel boards 10 years until I got one and found I had to use their outdated custom version of Ubuntu and still half of it didn't work. I assume things have gotten better since then but they don't have 10+ years of good support.

marginalia_nu 2y ago

Yeah. I just don't see how they could possibly grow in a way that satisfies the stock market. The only way to create an appearance of such growth is to go Boeing and essentially burn down the house for warmth. For an organization like this, it's basically always step one on an irreversible death spiral.

bongodongobob 2y ago
From my experience doing IT in industrial manufacturing, there is a ton of room for them to replace expensive PLCs where they aren't really needed. The company that makes the big fancy automated machines also make the simpler auxillary ones that supplement their main offerings. Since they know how to build with PLCs, that's what they use instead of sticking a Pi or some small form PC in it instead. Stuff like barcode readers on a manufacturing line or some simple piece of QA equipment at the end of the line measuring the height of a bottle or something. Adds thousands of dollars to the BoM but is complete overkill.
- marginalia_nu 2y ago
  There's strong diminishing returns in this sort of growth. With anything, you can optimize it until you can't. The market requires you to grow forever. How will Raspberry Pi Ltd still be growing in 50 years when the entire orchard of low hanging fruit is long since picked barren?
  - bongodongobob 2y ago
    I don't know, how does any other company do it?
- chrisjj 2y ago
  > From my experience doing IT in industrial manufacturing, there is a ton of room for them to replace expensive PLCs where they aren't really needed. From my experience with PLCs, they are hardened and robust to the extreme degree required by the harsh environments in which they are used. Last time I looked, the R Pi was the complete opposite. It can be crashed by just a nearby camera flash, and then leave its SD card corrupt to boot. Fine for hobbyists (apparently). Not fine for industrial applications.

pxx 2y ago

The first order bit of better outreach is a low price point, which they've completely lost the plot on. If going public is what takes them to realize it, I'll cheer it on.

WorkerBee28474 2y ago

> Makes me sad that they’ll now have to increase profits forever Providing a return to shareholders does not require increasing profits. Investing constant or declining profits into acquisitions or share buybacks can provide the same returns to shareholders.

jchiu1106 2y ago

Lower cost of components doesn't mean lower quality. What made the cost lower is logistics and the availability of components within the region.

opyate 2y ago

Yup, cue the imminent enshittification. E.g. your Pi6 will require sign-in and come with ads.