Braben: No Raspberry Pi for Consumers Until 3Q12

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Is that vapor I see wafting from these endless articles about the Raspberry Pi shipping dates being constantly pushed back?
 

joytech22

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I'd drop 50-70$ on one of these.
Even I consider that to still be a bargain.

I'll buy one of the initial developer versions so I can start it as a little side-hobby and learn to solve problems I find as I use it.

This way I might be able to help other owners. I mean sure I have no real experience but I see this as a way of learning. I can experiment with the thing a little, build myself a case and mess around with power supplies to power it all and play with some coding at the same time.

It's the perfect tinkering thingy. And everyone here loves to tinker :p
 

sn0-0ze

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Well this sucks.. So much for getting everyone's hopes up for the 20th of Feb release date that has been set! Great!
 

EDVINASM

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There are a number of competitors. Some of them having 1GHz or bigger, up to dualcore CPU and 1GB RAM, WiFi, bluetooth. See Cotton Candy. Any of them can step in and end this nonsense with Raspberry Pi. Was great idea, poorly implemented and delayed too much. Next! Better! I'm off this train. This looks like with ASUS EEE PC line. Started very slowly but picked up very well and now we have loads of netbooks from each manufacturer.
 

__Miguel_

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People, let's calm down a bit, OK? We're talking about two different things here: general "developer edition" availability and general "consumer edition" availability.

What hopefully is going to be sold beginning late this month is the "developer edition", which is a barebones board, without ANY extras. You'll have to solder the non-standard I/O leads by hand (it already ships with HDMI, USB, Ethernet, Coax and 3.5mm, it will be fully functional out of the box, you only need those leads to connect to other devices, like serial buses, to control other peripherals), and you won't receive the SD card containing the OS, a power adapter or even a case. Just the board, period, you're expected to source your own I/O leads, SD card and power supply, which you may or may not already have. That's the reason the first version will be targeted at developers, you're expected to do most of the grunt work.

This article seems to clarify what most of the people hanging around the RasPi forums already knew about: the first "developer edition" (let's call it that way) batches are NOT targeted to schools and end users, though they may buy them if they so wish. From what I've read from Liz and others in the Foundation in the past, this seems to have been the general idea since the start.

I also remember reading that a "user-friendly" (meaning, with a case, power supply, maybe even I/O leads) was expected "later", and that one would be the one targeted at schools and general public.

I might be dead wrong here, but I REALLY don't think the RaspberryPi Foundation will prevent anyone wanting to buy a board from the first batches to do so...
 
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Let me add to Miguels post. The board will be going on sale to *whomever wants one*, at the end of this month, February. It's not really a 'developer' edition - it's the same board as will be sold all year. I have no idea where Tom's hardware got the idea it's not generally available until q3, that really is completely wrong, and they really need to change their article which contains a number of 'untruths'
 

elel

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[citation][nom]jamesh65[/nom]Let me add to Miguels post. The board will be going on sale to *whomever wants one*, at the end of this month, February. It's not really a 'developer' edition - it's the same board as will be sold all year. I have no idea where Tom's hardware got the idea it's not generally available until q3, that really is completely wrong, and they really need to change their article which contains a number of 'untruths'[/citation]
There you have it - unless I'm much mistaken, one of the developers has spoken.
 

liz upton

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Liz from Raspberry Pi here.

This is totally wrong, and we're trying to chase it up with the magazine who printed the original article; I've just mailed Tom's as well. We're releasing at the end of the month to absolutely anyone who wants to buy one; the original interview appears to have mistaken the educational release, which *is* happening later in the year with a specific for-kids software stack, for the commercial one, which is happening at the END OF FEBRUARY. (Not on the 20th, which is when the boards roll off the line, but a few days later when they've all been tested.)

The prices are totally, absolutely, completely set in stone at $25 and $35. As I said in my mail to Tom's Hardware, they're such an important part of the change to the way we use computers that we're trying to make, we'd be quite mad to deviate from them - unless we can manage to deviate downwards, which we hope we may be able to do later on.
 

back_by_demand

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[citation][nom]liz upton[/nom]Liz from Raspberry Pi here.This is totally wrong, and we're trying to chase it up with the magazine who printed the original article; I've just mailed Tom's as well. We're releasing at the end of the month to absolutely anyone who wants to buy one; the original interview appears to have mistaken the educational release, which *is* happening later in the year with a specific for-kids software stack, for the commercial one, which is happening at the END OF FEBRUARY. (Not on the 20th, which is when the boards roll off the line, but a few days later when they've all been tested.)The prices are totally, absolutely, completely set in stone at $25 and $35. As I said in my mail to Tom's Hardware, they're such an important part of the change to the way we use computers that we're trying to make, we'd be quite mad to deviate from them - unless we can manage to deviate downwards, which we hope we may be able to do later on.[/citation]
Are they selling in the UK or will I need to import?
 

__Miguel_

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[citation][nom]back_by_demand[/nom]Are they selling in the UK or will I need to import?[/citation]
I can answer that one.

The boards are manufactured somewhere in Asia, I believe, but they'll be brought to the UK, and sold from there (and also from the US, if memory serves me right). Liz has already mentioned they'd like to have local resellers in different countries, so that might happen down the line, too.

Do take a look at the RaspberryPi FAQ, over here.

Miguel
 
[citation][nom]liz upton[/nom]Liz from Raspberry Pi here.This is totally wrong, and we're trying to chase it up with the magazine who printed the original article; I've just mailed Tom's as well. We're releasing at the end of the month to absolutely anyone who wants to buy one; the original interview appears to have mistaken the educational release, which *is* happening later in the year with a specific for-kids software stack, for the commercial one, which is happening at the END OF FEBRUARY. (Not on the 20th, which is when the boards roll off the line, but a few days later when they've all been tested.)The prices are totally, absolutely, completely set in stone at $25 and $35. As I said in my mail to Tom's Hardware, they're such an important part of the change to the way we use computers that we're trying to make, we'd be quite mad to deviate from them - unless we can manage to deviate downwards, which we hope we may be able to do later on.[/citation]

Thanks a lot for clearing that up Liz. It's good to know you guys care about these kinds of articles and actively pursue them to ensure everything is correct.
 

ae8994

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I think we should get the facts from the source before trashing the efforts of a NON-PROFIT organization trying to improve the education of young minds with a low cost device capable of fueling imagination and ambition in the future computer scientists and programmers of our little planet. Go to raspberrypi.org and get the facts.
 
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raspberrypi's website talks about this interview and how it is basically completely wrong. check it out.
 

gallidorn

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"Those who purchase a Raspberry Pi unit now will not receive leads, a power supply or SD cards, but the missing items can be bought at the same time from the store."

Really? Why would you sell a unit without the power supply and then offer it at an additional cost? Wouldn't the board be worthless without power?

This is starting to sound like $25/$35 is nothing but a marketing ploy, in order to generate buzz about their product. The actual product will most likely be over $100 after you add all of items you would expect to be included!


 

gallidorn

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Never mind my previous statement, I just read Liz Upton's post. It looks like $25/$35 is the price and set to release at the end of February 2012.
 

harrkev

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*** NOTE ***
THIS ARTICLE IS WRONG.

For the REAL details, go to www.raspberrypi.org
There SHOULD BE units shipping end of this month (probably not enough to meet demand, but some should ship.
 

fordry06

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[citation][nom]gallidorn[/nom]"Those who purchase a Raspberry Pi unit now will not receive leads, a power supply or SD cards, but the missing items can be bought at the same time from the store."Really? Why would you sell a unit without the power supply and then offer it at an additional cost? Wouldn't the board be worthless without power? This is starting to sound like $25/$35 is nothing but a marketing ploy, in order to generate buzz about their product. The actual product will most likely be over $100 after you add all of items you would expect to be included![/citation]

It is powered by the micro usb port. not exactly a spendy item to get one's hands on if you don't already have a usb cable.
 
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