adquisition and production

[forumisto]

Hello,

I wrote to Farnell-Spain asking for the disponibility in Spain. Its answer was: August.

I think it would be a good idea that RPi Foundation releases the design to large companies like Intel, AMD, Samsung, etc ... to take charge of higher production, although that price will increase somewhat.

[cDave]

forumisto said:


although that price will increase somewhat.


That's why. The aim of the RPi Foundation is not to get a board out as quickly as possible. Tangentially it's to get it out as cheaply as possible, as that is more likely to support the aims of getting them into the hands of as many potential future programmers as possible.

[AstonishingLee]

I ca't really see that Intel and  AMD would be jumping at the chance to manufacture and distribute ARM based computers.

[grumpyoldgit]

I'm not even sure that Intel or AMD even make computers.

[Prometheus]

Intel is (or at least has been) an ARM licensee, though, if memory serves...

[AstonishingLee]

I believe they bought out another company who happened to lisence from ARM. Can't remember who though.

[ridge]

Grumpyoldgit said:


I'm not even sure that Intel or AMD even make computers.



Intel has a line of branded motherboards. The most interesting to me are the ones with the low-power Atom processors. As more ARM SoC devices sport multi-cores and faster clocks, the two lines will converge in capabilities. Intel wants a piece of the mobile market, ARM wants a piece of the near desktop market. The dogfight for dominance at the intersection will be entertaining and somewhat important to keep an eye on for hints about future computing.

[forumisto]

I mentioned Intel or amd because they are big companies, I have no preference for anyone.
Perhaps I misspoke. The idea is to manufacture as many units as you require. If the cost of that is paying a little more, I do not think it's a crazy idea.
I would pay a little more for one. And you?

[jamesh]

Well, all those companies mentioned are more than capable of designing and making Raspi like boards without any help from us! They probably are already looking at it, but there needs to be a profit motive, and it's even if they had the current design, its unlikely they could make any difference to the production ramp up.

[Lynbarn]

forumisto said:


I mentioned Intel or amd because they are big companies, I have no preference for anyone.
Perhaps I misspoke. The idea is to manufacture as many units as you require. If the cost of that is paying a little more, I do not think it's a crazy idea.
I would pay a little more for one. And you?


Some would, no doubt (As has been seen on eBay) but the point is, the RPF is making them down to a COST. Production will ramp up over the next few months, until they ARE manufacturing as many as required. Remember, their primary market is in education, where cost is of paramount importance. Just because a big company gets involved doesn't automatically mean they will be able to produce them any quicker than is being done now.

I'm not referring to you specifically here, but the current demand for instant gratification so often expressed in this forum is a sad reflection on modern society. Just live life as it comes, and enjoy the anticipation.

[Smartybones]

I think a lot of people are also forgetting the current release is more of a developers release than a final consumer product. Get it out to people that can develop applications and utilities for the Pi, plus iron out any issues with the OS in time for a consumer release in q3(?) where you will get a pi in a nice shiny enclosure.

I imagine that a lot of the people that buy a RPi in the first batches are going to be somewhat disappointed at the lack of software available and the added work involved in actually getting the thing up and running....