credit for engineering the RPi

If Abishur (a master of the blue pencil if ever there was one) isn't careful he'll have to delete his own post and then ban himself.

Press releases, meh (as young internet savvy types might say). Perhaps Broadcom will now step up to the plate and admit responsibility for adoption of Synopsis USB tech and promise a fix Or not.

One wonders if the Foundation are finding themselves to be just passengers in this whole affair.

Marketroids are well known for claiming credit where no credit is due though.  I don't think that their press release is any strong indication that the Pi was a Broadcom project all along, and that RPF is an unofficial Broadcom annex.  If anything, the Broadcom logo on the alpha boards was a stronger indication of that.

Curiously, it would seem to be an own goal by Broadcom marketting, as engineers who take pride in their design are probably trying to stay out of the limelight over their problem child.  The price point was certainly a success, but technically it's a media SoC on a board with a poor set of I/O connectors and some USB problems.

Pi didn't become the worldwide phenomenon that it is based on technical merit, but because it's extremely cheap and "good enough" to be used for some very useful applications.

I find it refreshing that a major company would mention a non-executive in a press release.  Usually the names of engineers and other people who actually get the work done are kept secret so they aren't recruited by competitors and head-hunters.  Usually press releases only identify top executives and give the impression that all work is done magically by elves.

I think Abishur's comment has to be parsed very carefully.

He mentions Broadcom 4 times, but the 4th time he says

"Broadcom corporation".  Why would he go to the trouble

to add the "corporation"?  And why just on the 4th reference.

My guess is that in his mind he was distinguishing the

Broadcom corporation's involvement from the Broadcom

Foundation's involvement.  But if he had clarified that, it would

have defeated the point of his post in taking full credit for the RPF.

John Beetem wrote:

 

I find it refreshing that a major company would mention a non-executive in a press release.  Usually the names of engineers and other people who actually get the work done are kept secret so they aren't recruited by competitors and head-hunters.  Usually press releases only identify top executives and give the impression that all work is done magically by elves.

Well in this case, the product is just a BCM2835 and LAN9512 on a board with a bit of necessary glue around them, so the Guild of Magic Design Elves won't be particularly impressed.  However, the executives at said major company are no doubt mightily impressed, because simple and complex electronic designs are probably all equally obscure to them, whereas number of units sold they can relate to perfectly.

In other words, they're probably celebrating Eben Upton MBA, one of their own kind, and I guess he's working his way quite nicely towards the board at Broadcom.  Magic elves never earn more than pocket change, and new kitchens are expensive.