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My Brief Thoughts on Roadtesting

14rhb

To make a point on Renesas RX72N Envision Kit | element14 |without detracting from the subject matter of compilers, GUI or board capability I have broken my thoughts out here regarding who is attracted to roadtesting such embedded development boards and hence the licensing of software.

 

I believe more roadtesters are keen hobbyists or students and therefore have a limited budget preventing them purchasing the niche software required to continue using these products. Instead they rely on the free or time limited software available from the vendor. Once the roadtest is complete that software can expire quite quickly and the board gets little use afterwards. This is a pity as the board never appears again in future projects or blog posts. The board's roadtest also often consists of showing the demo software only, perhaps with a few changes.

 

Conversely, professional developers will likely buy development boards as part of their companies work plan and the boss would also likely agree to paying for the software, supporting license agreements over the period of the project. All the testing and development is undertaken in that team and the end goal is to make money by selling a product, and such people have less time available to come onto E14 to roadtest and review.

 

I'd like to see more open source support for such embedded boards with manufacturers perhaps issuing licenses to their software to allow the 'hobbyist' end of the roadtesters to continue using the product. Should they create something appealing then the manufacturer would likely benefit from the increased orders for the hardware itself? However being able to identify useful open source solutions that roadtesters can use and build skills in should be encouraged.

 

Just in case this post reads as a case to stop roadtests or for manufacturers to stop sponsoring them, please read on ! I'm confident the roadtests are read by professional developers when picking out new products for their development - so very useful still. I also need to add, IMO many of the keen hobbyists and students take the knowledge gained from roadtesting back into companies, maybe as their day job or when they start a career. Regardless of which end of that skills and application scale the member is at, all the comments in roadtests etc are invaluable, available for all to see/learn from and action accordingly. My last point is that I have actually bought several pieces of test equipment and dev boards for colleagues at my work following roadtests by other members on E14, although I class myself as a hobbyist  image.

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  • There are some good points above.

    The bottom line is that there appears to be enough members who are willing to go through the learning curve and the road test blogs are sufficient to make it worthwhile for manufacturers to continue this method of exposure.

    Manufacturers used to give out free dev kits to prospective clients, probably still do, but they didn't get much of a wider marketing effect beyond the specific user. A blog on this forum provides much wider exposure than that.

    Some members will participate just to learn about the products and their tool chains, even though they can't afford to maintain them. Such experience can even be useful when applying for a job.

    I am not generally in that camp, especially when it involves a huge investment in time, because anything that complex will fade from memory if it isn't used on a continuing basis. But there is still enough interest by others to keep the marketing model viable.

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  • There are some good points above.

    The bottom line is that there appears to be enough members who are willing to go through the learning curve and the road test blogs are sufficient to make it worthwhile for manufacturers to continue this method of exposure.

    Manufacturers used to give out free dev kits to prospective clients, probably still do, but they didn't get much of a wider marketing effect beyond the specific user. A blog on this forum provides much wider exposure than that.

    Some members will participate just to learn about the products and their tool chains, even though they can't afford to maintain them. Such experience can even be useful when applying for a job.

    I am not generally in that camp, especially when it involves a huge investment in time, because anything that complex will fade from memory if it isn't used on a continuing basis. But there is still enough interest by others to keep the marketing model viable.

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