5 ms·

They should work on the availability. A friends Startup isn't progressing as fast as he'd like to because he can't buy enough Raspberrys...

dsl 14y ago
Your friend is, quite simply, an idiot. The supply chain issues for Pis have been well known for a long time.
- bigfudge 14y ago
  That's both rude and unhelpful, and does nothing to address the original point (that they should focus on availability), which I would tend to agree with.
  - dsl 14y ago
    Sorry, I shouldn't be awake at this hour (See AWS thread). However the number of upvotes I immediately got seems to indicate my subtly suggested solution was quite clear to others.
    - bmelton 14y ago
      Or it might signal that which is all but known on HN, that many of its users are mean and spiteful, especially in the early morning.
    - motoford 14y ago
      Unfortunately you cannot measure the number of people who would have downvoted but did not have the ability.
  - anthonyb 14y ago
    I'd say more blunt and to the point. Also, it doesn't help now, but in future it certainly will. Don't make plans around pre-release or limited hardware.
    - davidw 14y ago
      Blunt and to the point: "Depending on a product with a flaky delivery issue is a terrible idea". Rude and unnecessarily offensive: "You are an idiot". The second one fails the "say it to your face" test in the site's guidelines: "Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face to face conversation."
      - alphadogg 14y ago
        Actually, the poster used both your civil and rude, which tends to mitigate the rudeness. BTW, what if he would say it face-to-face too? I've had more than my fair share of like "blunt evaluations" from investors, partners, etc.
    - Evbn 14y ago
      So, better to do nothing than to try something imperfect?
- strathmeyer 14y ago
  Yeah, guess he shouldn't have had that brilliant idea when they were so hard to come by???
eru 14y ago
They could turn it into a partial auction: I.e. allow people to pay more than the asking price. Highest bidder gets paid first. All the excess goes to charity---which could be the Raspberry Pi foundation itself, and thus towards making for Raspberry Pi's available for needy people later on.
- freehunter 14y ago
  The RPi Foundation has said they didn't do this initially because they don't need the money. I doubt they're in worse financial shape now, so it seems unlikely.
  - eru 14y ago
    Yes. But instead of letting people buy them for the asking price, and pocketing the difference on ebay, RPi Foundation should pocket the difference themselves. Of course, they don't do this because they want to keep everything simple, and might even get reputational damage out of an auction. Also last time I talked to the guys (HN London), they were constrained by the founders time more than anything else. So they wanted to keep running the foundation as simple as possible. As for the money: They could always donate to Doctors Without Borders or something like that.
    - beagle3 14y ago
      No. They don't do this because that would actually increase the price of the RPi to its (commercial) market value, which they do not want. Think about it this way: If they auctioned, and people value the Pi to $45, it would be impossible to get it for $35 because the price would never go that low. However, the way they did it, some people get a bargain (they were willing to pay $45 but only had to pay $35), but some people get it at the intended price (which is still a bargain). And the probability of winning the lottery of who actually gets one, becomes one that depends on persistence and not on direct monetary expense.
      - Evbn 14y ago
        Nice in theory, but doesn't really work on practice, as markets are too efficient for transferrable goods. Also, it is poor theory for a good with unlimited eventual production capacity. They could put a serial number / batch number on each one, and sell the first many at a huge premium, and then then pour all those profits into selling later units at a huge discount.

dsl 14y ago

Your friend is, quite simply, an idiot. The supply chain issues for Pis have been well known for a long time.

bigfudge 14y ago
That's both rude and unhelpful, and does nothing to address the original point (that they should focus on availability), which I would tend to agree with.
- dsl 14y ago
  Sorry, I shouldn't be awake at this hour (See AWS thread). However the number of upvotes I immediately got seems to indicate my subtly suggested solution was quite clear to others.
  - bmelton 14y ago
    Or it might signal that which is all but known on HN, that many of its users are mean and spiteful, especially in the early morning.
  - motoford 14y ago
    Unfortunately you cannot measure the number of people who would have downvoted but did not have the ability.
- anthonyb 14y ago
  I'd say more blunt and to the point. Also, it doesn't help now, but in future it certainly will. Don't make plans around pre-release or limited hardware.
  - davidw 14y ago
    Blunt and to the point: "Depending on a product with a flaky delivery issue is a terrible idea". Rude and unnecessarily offensive: "You are an idiot". The second one fails the "say it to your face" test in the site's guidelines: "Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face to face conversation."
    - alphadogg 14y ago
      Actually, the poster used both your civil and rude, which tends to mitigate the rudeness. BTW, what if he would say it face-to-face too? I've had more than my fair share of like "blunt evaluations" from investors, partners, etc.
  - Evbn 14y ago
    So, better to do nothing than to try something imperfect?
strathmeyer 14y ago
Yeah, guess he shouldn't have had that brilliant idea when they were so hard to come by???

eru 14y ago

They could turn it into a partial auction: I.e. allow people to pay more than the asking price. Highest bidder gets paid first. All the excess goes to charity---which could be the Raspberry Pi foundation itself, and thus towards making for Raspberry Pi's available for needy people later on.

freehunter 14y ago
The RPi Foundation has said they didn't do this initially because they don't need the money. I doubt they're in worse financial shape now, so it seems unlikely.
- eru 14y ago
  Yes. But instead of letting people buy them for the asking price, and pocketing the difference on ebay, RPi Foundation should pocket the difference themselves. Of course, they don't do this because they want to keep everything simple, and might even get reputational damage out of an auction. Also last time I talked to the guys (HN London), they were constrained by the founders time more than anything else. So they wanted to keep running the foundation as simple as possible. As for the money: They could always donate to Doctors Without Borders or something like that.
  - beagle3 14y ago
    No. They don't do this because that would actually increase the price of the RPi to its (commercial) market value, which they do not want. Think about it this way: If they auctioned, and people value the Pi to $45, it would be impossible to get it for $35 because the price would never go that low. However, the way they did it, some people get a bargain (they were willing to pay $45 but only had to pay $35), but some people get it at the intended price (which is still a bargain). And the probability of winning the lottery of who actually gets one, becomes one that depends on persistence and not on direct monetary expense.
    - Evbn 14y ago
      Nice in theory, but doesn't really work on practice, as markets are too efficient for transferrable goods. Also, it is poor theory for a good with unlimited eventual production capacity. They could put a serial number / batch number on each one, and sell the first many at a huge premium, and then then pour all those profits into selling later units at a huge discount.