Re: [LUG] Raspberry Pi RAM doubled :-)

[Gordon Henderson <gordon+lug@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 15 Oct 2012, Eion MacDonald wrote:

> ________________________________
> From: Gordon Henderson <gordon+lug@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> Sent: Monday, 15 October 2012, 14:49
> Subject: Re: [LUG] Raspberry Pi RAM doubled :-)
>
> On Mon, 15 Oct 2012, Dan Dart wrote:
>
> > I was also one of the first on that particular bandwagon.
> > Can't wait...
>
> Wait for what... to Landfill your existing Pi when it can no-longer run 
> because someone decided that some vital bit of software now needs 512MB 
> to run in?
>
> Personally, while I welcome the move, I think it will seriously annoy a 
> lot of people - like the few 100,000 others out these who made the 
> investments in the original version...
>
> Gordon
>
> Sorry folks, I think you have wrong end of stick in complaining about a 
> specification upgrade. I thought they thought they would only sell 10 to 
> 20 thousand,

I don't think "while I welcome the move" is too much of a complaint, 
however..


> hence, the original brief. All went well, they can improve, cut costs 
> make in UK etc. The ONLY technical equipment (hardware or software or 
> even agricultural machinery) that stays as original is that which fails! 
> I am glad this has not happened.

Originally the foundation commited to making 10,000 units. These were 
distributed equally to RS and Farnell with (IIRC) 2000 kept back, however 
from day -1 is was clear that the demand was such that they needed to keep 
on going, and going and going - to the tune of 4000 units a day.... I 
think they should have stopped at that point, do a board rev (there is a 
wiring issue to do with the 3.3v wire on the ethernet/usb chip, and it was 
clear from day 2 that there was an issue with the polyfuses on the USB 
sockets) and then make the decision to go forward. However it's hard to 
turn down demand. Schools did not commit to buying many for the start of 
this new year, so my reckoning is that it'll be for the start of next 
academic year - and they'll all be 512MB devices - so if you want to 
develop educational software, then spend another £30 on one now...

So lets wait and see... From my point of view, I'm a few 100 quid down - I 
can live with that. (cost of Pi's plus cost of equipment I've bought, PCBs 
I've had made and so on) What's another 30 quid..

Gordon

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