Shoot me now

Hey, look at the bright side - at least you didn't get banned over it..

Not to hijack your thread, but I have to say - I find it very odd to see Liz linking Alan Sugar's box and pointing out that we could do (have done) the same thing with RPi/XBMC. The reason I find this odd is that the RPi wasn't intended as a media centre device (by the Foundation), instead focusing on producing an approachable, learnable, non-intimidating device to get kids into programming again.

I know that a random thread over there doesn't translate into a change in the Foundation's official mission. I am a little puzzled to see her, of all people, advocating an application of the RPi tech this way. The more I think about it, it actually bugs me a little. Every RPi that is packaged by one of us "entrepreneurial types" as a media play device means one fewer in the hands of kids.

For context's sake - I have played with RaspBMC to amazing effect. It works far better than it ought to. I can't bring myself to dedicate an RPi to be my Media Centre though. I've an AppleTV (Jailbroken/rooted) that runs the same version of XBMC, plus lets me do Netflix and iTunes. So yeah - the RPi is a valid option as an XBMC platform. Very much so.

Should it bug me this much that it sounds like Liz seems to be saying this too?

Selsinork: <Fawlty>I think I came close once, but I got away with it </Fawlty> http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=4436#p58537

Ken, I understand where you are coming from. The thing is, very little that comes from the Foundation makes a lot of sense most of the time, particularly on the uses for it. They seem to love posting news items about 'how it can do x' but x has been achieved by two people with PhD's and are experts in their field etc. and the likes of little old me being able to do the same are virtually nil. I'm reasonably OK with technology and can normally muddle through myself (though nowhere near as competent as some of the people here) and if i'm scared off by some of the stuff then a lot of others that have bought this £25 computer just out of interest are going to be very confused.

There doesn't seem to be any coherent plan that I can see to produce user guides, general documentation or anything like what I think is needed to provide the eco system support that an educational tool like this needs. I'm not involved in education, so I'm probably wrong, but drawing on my own experience the first thing I looked for in 198X when I unpacked my C64 was the user guide which took you through the basics.

There are some notable external efforts going on, but there doesn't, to my mind at least, seem to be anything coming out centrally to provide a defined path of learning.

TL;DR Yes, I think it should be bugging you :-)

Selsinork: <Fawlty>I think I came close once, but I got away with it </Fawlty> http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=4436#p58537

Ken, I understand where you are coming from. The thing is, very little that comes from the Foundation makes a lot of sense most of the time, particularly on the uses for it. They seem to love posting news items about 'how it can do x' but x has been achieved by two people with PhD's and are experts in their field etc. and the likes of little old me being able to do the same are virtually nil. I'm reasonably OK with technology and can normally muddle through myself (though nowhere near as competent as some of the people here) and if i'm scared off by some of the stuff then a lot of others that have bought this £25 computer just out of interest are going to be very confused.

There doesn't seem to be any coherent plan that I can see to produce user guides, general documentation or anything like what I think is needed to provide the eco system support that an educational tool like this needs. I'm not involved in education, so I'm probably wrong, but drawing on my own experience the first thing I looked for in 198X when I unpacked my C64 was the user guide which took you through the basics.

There are some notable external efforts going on, but there doesn't, to my mind at least, seem to be anything coming out centrally to provide a defined path of learning.

TL;DR Yes, I think it should be bugging you :-)

There doesn't seem to be any coherent plan that I can see

Yup, That's become increasing clear.  Even simple stuff like having the main page of their site having direct links to all the basic get-you-started stuff and moving the blog off to a corner would be a good start.

Took me something like 7 or 8 mouse clicks to get from the front page to the verified peripherals list on the wiki - that's for someone who knows what he's looking for and exactly where to find it. So I'd have to agree that there's going to be a lot of confuse people out there, especially as they get more of them into the hands of the masses.