It would be nice to know the story about the ramp from alpha to beta to production.
The figures I've heard are 50 alpha boards, 25 beta boards, and then full scale
production. For comparison, the OLPC (one laptop per child) ramp was
reportedly 500 Alpha-1, 875 Beta-1, 2400 Beta 2, and then full scale production.
Initially, there reportedly weren't any plans for beta units at all, with full-scale production
planned for Q4 2011. Then, there were plans for 100 beta boards, and 100 pcb's
made, but only 25 were populated. Why so few populated? Reportedly they each
needed a repair, but that was supposedly pretty minor.
Apparently there were key partners such as the Fedora group at Seneca that
didn't get any beta boards. It doesn't make much sense to start selling to the
public before the key partners get adequate supplies.
It doesn't appear that very much experience was gained from beta users.
Only 10 beta boards were auctioned, and there are only reports of one of
those having been used, and only for a short time, and not with Fedora.
Is that enough user experience to estimate MTBF, and to have confidence
that any serious hardware or software glitches are fixed before ramping up
production and sales?
In the absense of a meaningful beta program, are customers protected
with an ample warranty and return policy?
