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CadSoft will enhance Premier Farnell and element14

awinning

We have been getting questions and requests for further information about Premier Farnell’s acquisition of CadSoft and the business of of Cadsoft  Computer Inc. While I don’t have all the answers, I’ll post what I know, and if you require any further information, please post your question here and I’ll try my hardest to find out the answers.


 

EAGLE software will continue to be supported and developed. The two founders of CadSoft who initially developed EAGLE software will remain with the business for agreed time periods as part of the integration process.

EAGLE software will facilitate design exchange between engineers through element14, which when combined with Premier Farnell’s transactional websites offers a complete online solution to purchasing and design needs. In addition, TechCast tutorial modules on element14 will enable new customers to quickly become familiar with the tool and help them learn how to use it.

The acquisition of CadSoft will give Premier Farnell more tools to help in the design process. These tools include the recent launch of DesignLink, which bridges from the other CAD tools straight to Premier Farnell’s product data, and information. 

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  • I'm excited at the possibility of new developments for Eagle. As a hobbyist electronics tinkerer, I've found Eagle to be a very good cross-platform tool for my small projects, certainly better and more stable than the freeware alternatives, but I've started to run up against the freeware limit in board size.

     

    Right now the hobbyist "Maker" market is very hot. Companies like Adafruit and Sparkfun and Make magazine are really cashing in on this and a lot of people are entering the low-end electronics design market. I'm definitely not a market expert, so take this with a grain of salt, but it feels like a great time to introduce a "Maker's Edition" of Eagle.  The problem for me right now is that going from a half eurocard board to a full eurocard board means buying a $498 license, even though my design is open source. I would love to see a less-expensive option for hobbyists. For example, I would be perfectly happy to pay $99-$149 for a full-eurocard, two-layer limit and no autorouting. Or, better yet, a limit on pad count rather than a limit on board size, since I often want to do a big board with few components. But I have a hard time justifying anything over a $200 hard-limit for my purposes, and I suspect that's going to be a pretty common price point limit for electronics hobbyists who are getting more serious.

     

    Thanks for the opportunity to comment on your purchase of CadSoft. Good luck, and best wishes!

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  • I'm excited at the possibility of new developments for Eagle. As a hobbyist electronics tinkerer, I've found Eagle to be a very good cross-platform tool for my small projects, certainly better and more stable than the freeware alternatives, but I've started to run up against the freeware limit in board size.

     

    Right now the hobbyist "Maker" market is very hot. Companies like Adafruit and Sparkfun and Make magazine are really cashing in on this and a lot of people are entering the low-end electronics design market. I'm definitely not a market expert, so take this with a grain of salt, but it feels like a great time to introduce a "Maker's Edition" of Eagle.  The problem for me right now is that going from a half eurocard board to a full eurocard board means buying a $498 license, even though my design is open source. I would love to see a less-expensive option for hobbyists. For example, I would be perfectly happy to pay $99-$149 for a full-eurocard, two-layer limit and no autorouting. Or, better yet, a limit on pad count rather than a limit on board size, since I often want to do a big board with few components. But I have a hard time justifying anything over a $200 hard-limit for my purposes, and I suspect that's going to be a pretty common price point limit for electronics hobbyists who are getting more serious.

     

    Thanks for the opportunity to comment on your purchase of CadSoft. Good luck, and best wishes!

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