Lady Ada's sneak peek RGB LCD plate

Many thanks for this link Jennifer, and the possible hint at things to come that it implies.  It was good to read that Element 14 were paying Adafruit a visit.

Limor and her people are an exceptional outfit, and for all the praise already heaped on them, more is deserved.

It's a fine day for divining the future, so I'll just finish this cup of tea .... mmmm, that was nice .... and see what the patterns in the tea leaves say:

"Adafruit will be selling Raspberry Pi directly from their website."

Well well, fancy that.

PS. Was it ever disclosed from where Maplin are sourcing their Pi?  It's highly unlikely to be RS since Broadcom is not giving them enough SoCs to fill their own preorders, and RPF has not suggested that a 3rd manufacturing partner has been appointed, AFAIK.  So it does seem likely that Maplin's source for Pi is the Farnell group.  If so, Adafruit might well be in line to obtaining a similar retail deal.

First off, it is kinda cool that adafruit is selling the Pi now, even though it is only bundled up in a very expensive, though highly useful, kit.  Secondly, isn't it somewhat misleading to say that broadcom did not give RS enough SoCs?  From everything I've heard on their production model, the SoC isn't made until the customer orders it (hence the high lead time), as a result it would seem that RS did not anticipate the volume of SoCs they would need whereas Farnell did.  So it's not that Broadcom didn't give RS enough, it's RS didn't purchase enough.

mynameisJim wrote:

 

From everything I've heard on their production model, the SoC isn't made until the customer orders it (hence the high lead time), as a result it would seem that RS did not anticipate the volume of SoCs they would need whereas Farnell did.  So it's not that Broadcom didn't give RS enough, it's RS didn't purchase enough.

One could make that argument if Broadcom did not anticipate the volume of SoCs that the two Pi manufacturers would need.  That's a very unlikely assessment though, since Broadcom knows full well the popularity of the Pi, and not only that, they even know from RPF the actual preorder numbers of both partners (even we know them to a first approximation, they are certain to have better figures).  And furthermore, there is no fabrication plant on the planet that is willing to keep its machinery idle, so you can be certain that BCM2835 fabrication is going full steam ahead, limited only by capacity.

A  more likely scenario is that RS had a larger preorder list than Farnell, which is certainly possible given the early website problems, and that Broadcom is dishing out BCM2835 SoCs in equal numbers to both manufacturing partners so Farnell advance orders were satisfied before those of RS.  Yet another possible scenario is that Broadcom is making the partners actually bid against each other to obtain BCM2835 from its scant manufacturing capacity, and Farnell won so is getting more of them.  We will never know.

Who knows how it works behind the scenes, but the idea that Broadcom is not manufacturing BCM2835 at its maximum possible capacity is extraordinarily unlikely.  That would make zero commercial sense for Broadcom, nor for anyone else.

Morgaine Dinova wrote:

 

One could make that argument if Broadcom did not anticipate the volume of SoCs that the two Pi manufacturers would need.  That's a very unlikely assessment though, since Broadcom knows full well the popularity of the Pi, and not only that, but they know from RPF the actual preorder numbers of both partners (even we know them to a first approximation).  And furthermore, there is no fabrication plant on the planet that is willing to keep its machinery idle, so you can be certain that BCM2835 fabrication is going full steam head, limited only by capacity.

 

A  more likely scenario is that RS had a larger preorder list than Farnell, which is certainly possible given the early website problems, and that Broadcom is dishing out BCM2835 SoCs in equal numbers to both manufacturing partners so Farnell advance orders were satisfied before those of RS.  Yet another possible scenario is that Broadcom is making the partners actually bid against each other to obtain BCM2835 from its scant manufacturing capacity, and Farnell won so is getting more of them.  We will never know.

 

Who knows how it works behind the scenes, but the idea that Broadcom is not manufacturing BCM2835 at its maximum possible capacity is extraordinarily unlikely.  That would make zero commercial sense for Broadcom, nor for anyone else.

I certainly agree that a manufacture wants it's fab plants always going (the stories I could tell), but the BCM2835 isn't the only chip they have to make.  I know a little of how fab plants work in general behind the scenes, they don't separate equipment out like your suggesting where one line is always making a specific chip.  They use the same equipment to make many types of chips and as such they build only enough to meet the order (well maybe a small excess to fill out capacity) and then make the next chip.  The equipment goes largely non-stop, but if you fail to order enough of the chip you need, you have to wait for the next time it's up for being built.

The bidding might make sense if it weren't for the other people that use the BCM2835 (which is mainly Roku).  You'd never be able to keep a price point for a product if you always had to  be bidding against anyone else using the chip to get fab time.  I might be able to get a lower price through good negotiating, but part of the negotiating would be lead times.  It would be up to me to accurate predict the demand of my product, this evidence would suggest that RS grossly underestimated demand.

I couldn't be more excited to have ladyada on our Community here and for Adafruit's wonderful Open Source Hardware products to be available from Newark element14.  The Raspberry Pi accessorries page lists many of Adafruit's Raspberry Pi accessories.  A search for "adafruit" on newark.com will display the full list of 20 Adafruit products.  That search returns 19 Adafruit products for uk.farnell.com.  (Farnell customers will have to pay delivery charge £15.95 once per order since it's direct ship from the US)

Here's some fun projects from my previous blog posts that can be built with Adafruit's products:

• time and temperature display using the Adafruit Real-Time Clock breakout boardAdafruit Real-Time Clock breakout board and Adafruit Pi CobblerAdafruit Pi Cobbler
• automate beer brewing using the Adafruit Pi CobblerAdafruit Pi Cobbler, the MCP3008 ADCMCP3008 ADC, and the TMP36 temp sensorTMP36 temp sensor
• portable Pi using this 3,300mAh USB battery pack3,300mAh USB battery pack from Adafruit to power the Pi anywhere
• "headless" Pi using this USB to serial cableUSB to serial cable from Adafruit to directly access the console

There's plenty more exciting examples on the Adafruit Learning System:

• Volume control knob with the Adafruit Pi CobblerAdafruit Pi Cobbler, the MCP3008 ADCMCP3008 ADC and a potentiometerpotentiometer
• Play sounds when buttons are pressed with the Adafruit Pi CobblerAdafruit Pi Cobbler and tactile switchestactile switches
• Detect light with the Adafruit Pi CobblerAdafruit Pi Cobbler and a photoresistorphotoresistor
• Cloud-based temperature logging with the Adafruit Pi CobblerAdafruit Pi Cobbler, the MCP3008 ADCMCP3008 ADC, and theTMP36 temp sensorTMP36 temp sensor

Finally, I've got to point out Adafruit's handy 8x8 LED matrix modules which come in GreenGreen, YellowYellow and RedRed.  Only 4 wires are needed to be hook these displays up to the Pi via I2C.  Their great tutorial will have pixels dancing around in no time:

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RE: Lady Ada's sneak peek RGB LCD plate Adafruit and Newark element14 team up! Adafruit and Newark element14 team up!

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Cheers,

Drew

Postage. I know. OUCH.

Yeah, I can relate as I never like seeing Farnell direct ship be the only option for something I want on Newark (since I'm in the US).  Farnell customers: would you like to see these Adafruit products stocked locally for Europe?

For Farnell to have the Adafruit availble for UK/Europe would be FRUITANGSTIC. Thanks for even hinting at that possiblitly Drew.

Ray

Drew Fustini wrote:

 

Farnell customers: would you like to see these Adafruit products stocked locally for Europe?

Would we?  Hahaha, you jest.