Strange Prices

> Technically, BBB would be a far stronger one.

Yes, as you've noted before, particularly for education uses where

the faster cpu makes a big difference for X applications like Scratch,

Python IDE, and web browsing.  As you noted, since the BBB design

is open, the Sony plant could build it, and RPF could perhaps use it

as their "educational release", and save themselves a lot of effort trying to

upgrade their existing design.

coder27 wrote:

 

As you noted, since the BBB design

is open, the Sony plant could build it, and RPF could perhaps use it

as their "educational release", and save themselves a lot of effort trying to

upgrade their existing design.

While Sony certainly has the competence and industrial muscle, they would seem to be a very unlikely candidate for manufacturing and releasing an open hardware product themselves.  Their entire history over the last decade has consisted of stamping out open access even when they provided it initially (OtherOS on PS3), releasing hidden rootkits, adding DRM to everything, and using their own proprietary media wherever possible.  Not many companies have earned themselves a techie boycott owing to their unfriendly practices, but Sony has that distinction.  The word "open" isn't part of their native vocabulary.

As subcontracted manufacturers though, they could certainly produce fine open hardware products despite their personal disinterest in it.

As an aside to this.

E14 have the PiFace branded with their logo.

The pic here is not branded

http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-52857?ICID=rasp-accessory-group

but the ones received were (and I have one sourced directly as well as the road test)

http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1452

They also seem to own Embest as the logo states (An Element14 company)

http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-53007/l/embedded-pi--a-triple-play-platform-for-raspberry-pi-arduino-and-32-bit-embedded-arm?CMP=SOM-RASPI-ARDUINO-EMBEDDEDPI-LAUNCH-GPLUS

Link to embest

http://www.armkits.com/

So perhaps there is more going on behind the scenes than we are lead to believe....

Mark

Wow!  A lot of food for thought there.

Mark Beckett wrote:

 

So perhaps there is more going on behind the scenes than we are lead to believe....

Understatement.

Sorry I forgot to add.

If you try to find a RaspberryPi on the NZ website (even if you have the code number) it takes you to a front page, that suggests you can order and its 3 weeks.

try clicking on modelB http://nz.element14.com/raspberry-pi?ref=lookahead

You then proceed to order, and you have to choose the country (even though you started on the nz website).

Next is it a business or individual.

Choose individual and you get a list of distributors that for NZ is trademe, and thats like ebay.

Choose business and you get to the same code you started with and its available next day from AUS....

http://nz.element14.com//jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?id=2191863&Ntt=2191863&

I'm not sure if this is similar to reply5 from coder, but yet you can buy it here.

I was fortunate that the NZ rep showed me how to go straight to it, so it could be linked for an article.

Mark

edit

I note the NZ site now allows direct access, but only if you choose the right code.

http://nz.element14.com/raspberry-pi/raspbrry-modb-512m/sbc-raspberry-pi-model-b-512mb/dp/219186301

gets you there, but the other one (same price, same numbers available) doesn't

mark

Message was edited by: Mark Beckett

Mark Beckett wrote:

 

They also seem to own Embest as the logo states (An Element14 company)

For a while now

http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-48555/l/premier-farnell-acquires-shenzhen-embest-technology-co-ltd-enhancing-its-offering-for-electronic-designers

Mark Beckett wrote:

 

I note the NZ site now allows direct access, but only if you choose the right code.

The whole jumping through hoops to get to a page where you can actually order one is a direct follow on of the 29th Feb 2012 when e14, farnell, newark, rs, allied were effectively taken offline by the demand, none of the distributors seemed to really grasp the scale.

If you do a search for beaglebone black on uk.farnell.com today you get a similar landing page (not quite so many hoops), but unlike the Pi you can go direct - even selecting the Pi from the list of items in the relevant section gets you the landing page on the uk site last time I tried and not being able to search makes it difficult to get to the cases and such like

The NZ rep made a comment about why, but I can't recall his exact words.

It is a shame they have the blanket three weeks, as I'm sure most people will just go elsewhere, not knowing its next day.

The interesting thing is they now (NZ) have the new code in the search, and this hoop jumping didn't affect the A version.

re the Embest

I didn't see (or note) that, so thanks.

I'm not sure how they use it, because I got this back from the NZ rep, when I posted to Pat Kelly in April 2013.

I believe there is some merit in partnering with someone who has the facility to manufacture, carry and then supply, in much the same way as E14 and RaspberryPi.

We don’t have facilities for manufacturing, the Raspberry Pi is a unique situation where contract manufacturers were employed due to the high manufacture volume. There are low volume contract manufacturers in Christchurch I can put you in touch with if you like.

Mark

I'm not actually surprised e14 don't have their own facilities, very few places do these days. It's simply not worth it unless you want to get into the contract manufacturing business yourself - or are big enough to keep the place running to capacity with your own products.

I worked in the contract manufacturing business for many years, and the production lines were kept going 24x7 as the necessary equipment is very expensive to let sit idle.

Having moved on to a major brand-name manufacturer, you now find that even they have outsourced virtually all of it to contract manufacturers as well.

reviving an older thread, I came across this:

Embest: BB Black Development Platform based on TI Sitara AM3358 Processor Exclusively for China

http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-54131?CMP=PRR-APC-13-0013

so it looks like E14 is in fact making BBB, as discussed hypothetically above,

just not in the Sony factory (yet?).

The RPi has a similar China-exclusive manufacturer, Egoman.

Embest is owned by E14, as of 5 July 2012, as selsinork noted above.

They were founded in 2000 and have made ARM boards, among other things.

I suppose it's possible that Embest, which is based in Shenzhen, where the

original RPi factory was located, is actually the original RPi factory.

Now they make E14's Embedded Pi product as well as PiFace, and the TI Sabre Lite.