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Raspberry Pi Now Has Distributors -- and Will Soon Have Boards for All (Video)
In an exclusive Transatlantic Skype conversation with Slashdot editor Timothy Lord recorded on Feb. 22, Raspberry Pi project leader Eben Upton talks about the state of Raspberry Pi, and tells us that yes -- finally -- they now have distributors in the U.S. and other countries instead trying to ship every unit from the U.K. Even better, instead of buying a batch of boards, selling them, and only then ordering another batch, the new distribution agreements mean they can keep a steady flow of orders coming in and going out. One slight downer is that people who have donated to the project may not get their Pi(s) right away; the distributors have spoken for all of the current order. Eben talks about this, and about how Raspberry Pi is going to take care of contributors, starting at about 4:15 in the video. You can also look at an in-person interview Tim did with Eben in January -- or wait until the end of today's video for a list of other Raspberry Pi videos.
Unfortunately it didn't really work out as planned. Farnell and RS was DDoSed a long time from 6 am to about 12. And there is still problems for people outside the UK to buy the rasp. I'm in Sweden and Farnells liks to the pre-order does not have Sweden in it's list. RS on the other hand requires a company to "express an interest in raspberry" (it says nothing about pre-order). So even now when the sites is working again I'm still unable to order a Rasp.
This makes me wonder why they didn't team up with a firm that is known globally and can handle traffic like e-bay or amazon?
Strictly speaking; the SoC on both(being, after all, the same part, now even with the same PoP RAM option) has 1 USB port. The model B has an SMSC LAN9512 chip attached to the SoC's USB port, which is a single-chip USB-ethernet and USB hub part, providing one ethernet port and 2 USB ports. The A has just the SoC port with nothing downstream...
Makes me wish I'd picked up a few more of those now-fallen-out-of-favor USB 'docking stations' when Microcenter was blowing them out for $8... As a standalone part, the B is a trivially better product, $10 seems a trifle high for just the LAN9512 and connectors; but a USB hub and ethernet dongle will be uglier, and both for under $10 will be a bit tricky. Connected to a USB docking station, though...
For mishandling the launch of a £22 gadget that you're interested in playing with, you'll attempt to destroy the current and future professional relationships they have with company you work for?
I think we've found a new definition for vindictive!
Overreact much?
Where raspberry pi is really failing at the moment is messaging. We were initially told that we could order internationally direct from the foundation. The post on the website says that you can buy them now from RS and Farnell, which would also be fine. While I think this is true for Farnell if you live in the UK, it isn't true for RS or Farnell if you live in the USA, so a lot of people feel like they've been deceived.
Furthermore, Farnell doesn't even seem to sell to USA consumers, and RS only has an "express an interest" site, and nothing on their USA site.
So, consumers are very confused about what is going on. Because of the inconsistent messaging, USA consumers have no idea if we'll ever be able to buy them online, at least without significant retail markup.
What I think would improve the goodwill would be for the Raspberry Pi team to:
1.) Contact RS and Farnell and figure out what the heck is going on, particularly for international customers. Put a post on the website to the effect that you're doing this.
2.) Once they do figure out what's going on, TELL US.
If, in two weeks time, when all the traffic has died down, international customers will be able to get them, that's fine, but people currently don't feel like that's the case. The two distributors are ruining Raspberry Pi's goodwill (which often happens when you give this power to someone else) but Raspberry Pi isn't compensating by over-communicating on their end.