is RPi a serious project?

"Shocking" is the norm for the Foundation, isn;t it?

Collapse on launch day caused by a ridiculous launch plan, RJ45 disaster, attempted domestic distribution without certification, instability/power problems with the design, utterly shocking relations with the community, and zero management ability to smooth the ordering process.  "Shocking" is actually quite generous.

It's worth pointing out though that the shambolic amateurism of the Foundation has served a worthwhile purpose --- after all, industry by itself had not come up with a $35 Linux computer, despite the fact that it is numerically easy to do from a BOM cost + high volume perspective.  Sometimes it takes a dash of amateurish bravado to stir things up a bit.

However, it's a serious project for Farnell and RS.  They've probably been wondering how to take the disaster that RPF handed them and put it on an even keel.  Element 14 does seem to be on the road to succeeding, judging by recent messages.  Not sure about RS though, they seem to be suffering a lot still.

I bet that we'll be seeing a $35 computer done by professional teams before long.  Existing products from TI and Freescale show that this is possible.

The TI AM3358/9 SoC (Cortex-A8) on which the BeagleBone is based costs US$5 in volume, and the Freescale Kinetis KL25Z Freedom Board costs £8.10 which is just under $13, which hints at the very low high-volume cost of a board with many of the Pi goodies on-board (but a cheap microcontroller).  Replace the Cortex-M0+ with a Cortex-A8 like the AM3359 and you have a good foundation for a cheap Pi-type Linux computer.  Also,  the AM3359 has two USBs and an Ethernet MAC built in, so externally you just need a PHY and magjack for a Pi Model B's connectivity.

So, where does this leave costings ... is $35 - $18 = $17 enough for 256MB RAM, PHY + magjack and the external components for graphics output?  (The AM3359 has a built-in PowerVR GPU onboard.)  At high volume, that seems a safe bet.  It's sure to come.

Addendum:  Even better, don't remove the Freescale Cortex-M0+ when adding the Cortex-A8.  Leaving it on-board as a peripheral to the applications processor will VASTLY increase the realtime interfacing potential of the resulting Linux computer, and not add significantly to the cost.

Morgaine.

I'm very impressed with the Roku 2 design and how well it works, sure retail price is higher but it includes many more features, including a case, power supply, etc.

I'm sure that at large volume production the costs can be managed, there are couple of things on the Pi that I'd say for a large number of the users are useless, like

the two FPC connectors which are not cheap, or the analog video RCA jack (I tried it and the image is quite ugly on noisy, but obviously is not the Pi).

I'd bet that a microscopic percentage of users have any use for the JTAG header. And why the heck it the board has to be the size and shape of a credit card ?

I wish the RPF best of luck on their plans, but centering their strategy around the Pi to achieve the noble goal they publish, imho is taking the wrong road.

I bet we'll see more and more Pis on eBay from people that don't know what to do with it and got caught on the frenzy, and/or realize that you can't do what a real

computer does as claimed multiple times by EU.

What is the latest answer to what is going on ? "Hey what do you expected, it is a development board after all"

I thought it was "An ARM GNU/Linux box" ....

-J

I'm very impressed with the Roku 2 design and how well it works, sure retail price is higher but it includes many more features, including a case, power supply, etc.

I'm sure that at large volume production the costs can be managed, there are couple of things on the Pi that I'd say for a large number of the users are useless, like

the two FPC connectors which are not cheap, or the analog video RCA jack (I tried it and the image is quite ugly on noisy, but obviously is not the Pi).

I'd bet that a microscopic percentage of users have any use for the JTAG header. And why the heck it the board has to be the size and shape of a credit card ?

I wish the RPF best of luck on their plans, but centering their strategy around the Pi to achieve the noble goal they publish, imho is taking the wrong road.

I bet we'll see more and more Pis on eBay from people that don't know what to do with it and got caught on the frenzy, and/or realize that you can't do what a real

computer does as claimed multiple times by EU.

What is the latest answer to what is going on ? "Hey what do you expected, it is a development board after all"

I thought it was "An ARM GNU/Linux box" ....

-J