How is Raspberry Pi supported?

This product is obviously not for you. Sell it on Ebay and go out and get a BBC Micro since that meets your requirements. You would have saved yourself a lot of frustration if you read the literature on the web site before you ordered the raspberry pi. I know exactly what I am getting, and am actually glad it does not come preloaded with everything, because that is how you learn new things. Besides, for less technically adept people, it is stated that there are plans to offer a preloaded SD card with an OS as well as complete hardware peripheral bundles in the future.

@jc123:  You appear to be on the wrong forum.

This is a site where we try to help people with Raspberry Pi, not alienate them.

Morgaine,

Thanks for the support and understanding.  I think we're on the same wavelength here, and I completely agree with all of your comments in this thread.  It doesn't have to take a lot to offer good customer service, but it is quite crucial if the product is going to enjoy any longevity I think.  And one of the things I'm noticing is because the only public face of RPi that I can find seems to be unmoderated public forums, the consumer experience is a very bumpy one at best.  Rather than having any degree of customer service, one is faced with dealing with a very raw mix of experienced and rational people vs. those in denial who want to turn anyone away who isn't having a great experience with RPi.  The trouble is, the latter attitude will not help the development or image of the RPi, and is counter-productive.

For the information of anyone reading my posts, I am actually here to help.  And one of the ways I help is to identify problems, talk about them rather frankly, and encourage others to think about how the situation might be improved.  My philosophy is, if I think there's a problem, chances are other people will find the same problems.  So if we can solve these things together, then we're solving them for others too.  My message for pjc123 and others like them is: don't shoot the messenger!

By the way, I've noticed that those in the press who have been reviewing the RPi have also been shipped SD cards with a working OS on them, and some demo programs and games pre-loaded!  Funny that.

Morgaine,

Thanks for the support and understanding.  I think we're on the same wavelength here, and I completely agree with all of your comments in this thread.  It doesn't have to take a lot to offer good customer service, but it is quite crucial if the product is going to enjoy any longevity I think.  And one of the things I'm noticing is because the only public face of RPi that I can find seems to be unmoderated public forums, the consumer experience is a very bumpy one at best.  Rather than having any degree of customer service, one is faced with dealing with a very raw mix of experienced and rational people vs. those in denial who want to turn anyone away who isn't having a great experience with RPi.  The trouble is, the latter attitude will not help the development or image of the RPi, and is counter-productive.

For the information of anyone reading my posts, I am actually here to help.  And one of the ways I help is to identify problems, talk about them rather frankly, and encourage others to think about how the situation might be improved.  My philosophy is, if I think there's a problem, chances are other people will find the same problems.  So if we can solve these things together, then we're solving them for others too.  My message for pjc123 and others like them is: don't shoot the messenger!

By the way, I've noticed that those in the press who have been reviewing the RPi have also been shipped SD cards with a working OS on them, and some demo programs and games pre-loaded!  Funny that.

There are good signs that Element 14 / Premier Farnell are trying to be responsive to customers, in that Jenny is being  informative over in the RPF blog/forum and Nicole is similarly answering questions and providing information about delivery here.  Also their FAQ is regularly being updated with the latest state of play, and they have been sending out email notifications as promised.  It's a start.

Of course it's not enough.  Given that they have around a quarter of a million registered Pi customers, clearly two people, a FAQ and some emails is barely a token level of support.  Also, it's very important for us not to succumb to fanboism, no matter how much we like them. :-)

Farnell is definitely "Best of British" and a pillar of industry, but they are selling a product and that places a duty of customer care on them, not only to comply with consumer laws (which are minimal) but much more importantly to safeguard their very good reputation.  I'm certain that they're fully aware of this need.

That's why I was suggesting that a rock-bottom preloaded bundled SD card might help them by ensuring that the Pi will boot for virtually everyone out of the box. Booting would still not be guaranteed because applied power would still be out of their control, but it would certainly eliminate a bunch of "doesn't boot" support calls, and it would make life easier for many a beginner.

I agree with you entirely.

By the way, I fixed my original problems with a firmware update.  Details here: http://www.element14.com/community/message/51493?tstart=0#51493

Mark.

@Mark: Ah, good news!  That's one for the bookmarks.