I agree with Brian, that at $25 or $35 this is a significantly affordable price for schools. I spent a few years working in the US and schools struggle to keep their student use IT up to date. Lots of schools have second- or third-hand PCs that would struggle to keep up with an RPi. Companies like HP and Dell give paltry 5-15% discounts for new systems to schools where they still need to add software and accessories. A cheap PC will still cost a school close to $500-$1000. The RPi will give schools the ability to provide computing capabilities for students for around $100 if you add in the power supply, SD card and keyboard/mouse.
I consider myself lucky to eventually receive one at this price.
Sure, $25-$35 is definitely "cheap" for most people in the developed world, and it's that very low price which has made demand for the Pi skyrocket. But "cheap" isn't "discounted". Those are two different things entirely.
Sure, $25-$35 is definitely "cheap" for most people in the developed world, and it's that very low price which has made demand for the Pi skyrocket. But "cheap" isn't "discounted". Those are two different things entirely.
No, your right, cheap isn't discounted. Perhaps the PI people would have been better suggesting a £39.95 price for us who want to play with it outside of education and 'discout' it to £25.00 for schools etc. We would still be clammering for it.
My feeling that they are doing a great job at providing it at such a good price and a lot of 'us' are just creating a lot of unncessary noise about price, configuration, delivery schedules, moaning about when we will get it, why doesn't it do this - that- and the outher, just let them get it finished and manufactured. I can wait until August if required, had it not been for the PI people I would not get one ever!
You're missing the point by a mile. $25 is still $25, even if arrived at using your alternative suggestion. It's not less than $25, which is what discounting would achieve (for Edu only).
That $25 was viable pricing for the Foundation despite the batch size being a mere 10,000. The $25 was not loss-maker pricing. Therefore when Farnell + RS commission mass volume production and hence their BOM cost drops markedly, there will be extra room for dropping the price through discounts, for Edu only.
That was the point. The fact that the current price is a good one for us is completely immaterial, and the fact that you and I are happy with the current price is also totally immaterial when the subject is education. Of course it's a good price, it's a great one, for us! But education needs all the help it can get. We don't.
No I'm not, wasn't it developed as a tool to get students more interested in programming and messing about with computers in the raw? If so the the £25 price is an educational price, and a good one. We are the ones benefiting from the educational price, so if it would help the cause perhaps non-educational buyers should pay a small mark-up of say £5.00 to go directly to the pi people to help with the on-going develpment of the Raspi.
Since you're going out of your way to argue against education obtaining a price below $25, I must assume that you have an ulterior motive for this. Either way, discussing it with you further is clearly fruitless.
Those who hold education in more esteem and know the extreme money difficulties under which most schools operate will be looking at ways in which a lower cost can be achieved for Edu once the BOM cost drops through volume production. I have little doubt that it will come.
