On Sunday, April 13, 2014 8:03:56 PM UTC-4, William Hermans wrote: > > Good information and thank you Jason for sharing. I see there is also > someone else producing miniature versions of the BBB, but . . . not my own > thing. >
Who and what? > > Personally, I would like to see other "upgrades" as well, but I voiced > those last year, and from the response I received from Gerald seems to > indicate that my own wishes are not inline with beagleboard.org's current > roadmap. However, the minnowboard MAX is a perfect fit( even though using a > different processsor architecture ). > > Personally, I never would have guessed last year at launch that the BBB > would take off like this. But very pleased that it did. > > > On Sun, Apr 13, 2014 at 4:18 PM, Charles Steinkuehler < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Great writeup Jason! >> >> Most of the info exists in bits and pieces around this forum and >> elsewhere, but it's a great all-in-one summary. I really like that >> you're sharing the plans for moving forward and reasons for some of the >> decisions. Open communities thrive on information and communications! >> >> On 4/13/2014 6:12 PM, Drew Fustini wrote: >> > Excellent, I think this really helps to clarify a lot of the questions >> > hanging in the air. >> > On Apr 13, 2014 6:07 PM, "Jason Kridner" <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > >> >> Just about to post this to http://beagleboard.org/blog, but it >> >> wouldn't hurt to get a bit of community feedback before pushing this >> >> out there.... >> >> >> >> Dude, where's my BeagleBone Black? I hear that question a LOT. No, we >> >> weren't sleeping, but sometimes it takes a minute for a plan to come >> >> together. And don't you love it when a plan comes together? >> >> >> >> Your BeagleBone Black is on the way and below are the whys and hows. >> >> >> >> Buying a BeagleBone Black back around October last year was easy---and >> >> then suddenly they were gone. Having a big launch and then slowing >> >> down to a more steady pace of production is what is normally expected. >> >> Demand was strong, but distributors were showing a small amount of >> >> stock and people were getting their boards on demand. Based on the >> >> status, distributors had requested CircuitCo (the Richardson, Texas >> >> based manufacturer of all official BeagleBoard.org boards) to provide >> >> boards at a certain pace, and production dropped from about 6,000 a >> >> week at launch to around 3,000 a week. >> >> >> >> Then came Radio Shack, filling their stores with Make's Getting >> >> Started with BeagleBone kit. Then the Christmas rush. Then the Georgia >> >> Tech massively open online course on control of mobile robots hosted >> >> on Coursera. We had a couple of small production boosts, but haven't >> >> been able to make any dent in the demand. Everyone is starting to find >> >> out what BeagleBone Black can do, using it in their classes, hobbies, >> >> prototypes---and products. >> >> >> >> When it comes to those people using a BeagleBone Black in an end >> >> product, well, the BeagleBoard.org terms and conditions clearly say we >> >> aren't responsible for the quality in those cases. Nevertheless, the >> >> quality speaks for itself and many people are choosing to simply drop >> >> them into things beyond just a few prototype units. In practice, we'll >> >> never know unless you try to return a bunch of boards at once for >> >> repairs. Our desire is that people using the boards in products work >> >> directly with a contract manufacturer or distributor to enable boards >> >> builds to be planned out in time and with terms and conditions that >> >> won't hurt BeagleBoard.org's ability to supply classrooms, hobbyists >> >> and professionals building prototypes. Still, if distributors show >> >> stock, I expect people building products to continue to chew up some >> >> of the board supply. >> >> >> >> While these people building products are certainly sucking up a lot of >> >> boards, it is clear they aren't the only source of the high demand. >> >> Some of our distribution partners, most notably Adafruit and Special >> >> Computing, put quantity limits of one board per customer on their >> >> orders to help keep supply going to individual makers. I took a look >> >> at Adafruit's website while they were showing some sock and observed >> >> board disappearing at the rate of about 2-3 PER MINUTE. One tweet from >> >> me and they were sold out again. >> >> >> >> This all leads to the obvious conclusion: we need more capacity. To >> >> accomplish this, we are taking a multiple prong approach of increasing >> >> capacity at CircuitCo as well as bringing on an additional >> >> manufacturer. These two prongs are summarized below. >> >> >> >> Prong #1 - Ramping up production at CircuitCo >> >> >> >> Ramping up production costs money. More test equipment is needed. >> >> Orders on various parts must be accelerated. Additional staff must be >> >> hired to run additional shifts. CircuitCo has been fantastic at taking >> >> the risk for us, but the margins for BeagleBone Black aren't the >> >> friendliest for them to take on these additional costs. At initial >> >> launch, it is a benefit for them to get exposed to more customers for >> >> their core business, complex circuit assembly and engineering >> >> services, but shipping more of the exact same board isn't going to >> >> give them a lot more exposure. >> >> >> >> We're really close to shifting the distribution shipped on our boards >> >> from Angstrom Distribution to Debian. Feedback from different people, >> >> especially Adafruit, tells us this will improve usability in the >> >> largest segments of our community. Angstrom Distribution is much more >> >> customizable and is very friendly to professional developers looking >> >> to tweak the most out of the system, but for many novices it >> >> introduces a barrier to learning. Debian is the basis for Ubuntu, >> >> includes ARM Cortex-A8 support in their mainline and is very familiar >> >> to a huge population of developers. It also takes a bit more space on >> >> the flash storage to provide the best user experience. >> >> >> >> To provide the best experience of using Debian on BeagleBone Black, we >> >> are connecting the switch-over to an increase in the on-board eMMC >> >> flash storage from 2GB to 4GB, leaving more free room in which you can >> >> work. The eMMC is faster and more reliable than micro-SD cards, so >> >> this is adding a lot of value---and a little bit of cost. >> >> >> >> These BeagleBone Blacks with Debian and 4GB eMMC will be called Rev C >> >> and they will likely cost a bit more at most distributors. This extra >> >> money is helping CircuitCo pay for the additional expense of the eMMC, >> >> but also to cover costs for ramping production to higher-than-ever >> >> rates. >> >> >> >> With the additional capacity CircuitCo is bringing on, we expect to be >> >> able to fill all end-user back-orders for the Rev B boards by early >> >> May and shift all production to Rev C. With around 150,000 boards on >> >> *distributor* back-orders, we'll be working with distributors to >> >> quickly accept board shipments such that CircuitCo isn't sitting on >> >> any units. >> >> >> >> Come mid-May, you should be able to easily get your hands on a Rev C >> >> board. Some distributors are already taking back-orders for them now. >> >> We'll continue to try to push as many boards as we can through >> >> distributors *not* taking back-orders as well to make sure there is a >> >> continuity of supply. >> >> >> >> Prong #2 - Enabling production of the BeagleBoard Compliant Element14 >> >> BeagleBone Black >> >> >> >> We've launched a BeagleBoard Compliant logo program, >> >> http://beagleboard.org/logo. Element14 is currently the exclusive >> >> licensee of this logo program and has agreed to pay a small royalty to >> >> the BeagleBoard.org Foundation as part of this license. It means that >> >> we've verified they can produce quality clones of BeagleBone Black. It >> >> will be up to them to maintain the quality. As with everything going >> >> on around BeagleBoard.org, we'll be closely monitoring the public >> >> BeagleBoard mailing list, http://beagleboard.org/discuss, for any and >> >> all feedback. >> >> >> >> Element14 is the parent company for Embest, who has been making >> >> BeagleBone Black replicas for the China market since the initial >> >> launch back in April of last year, so they have some experience >> >> already. This move takes them beyond just China and will keep them in >> >> more lock-step with software and hardware revisions coming from >> >> BeagleBoard.org. To satisfy demand, they initially offered some of the >> >> Embest-branded boards in the US market, but you'll see the future >> >> BealgeBoard Compliant boards will be branded as "element14 BeagleBone >> >> Black". >> >> >> >> Element14 has a world-wide reach and a notable production capacity. >> >> With all of the growing demand for BeagleBone Black, they will need >> >> it. I consider this a huge win for open hardware! >> >> >> >> --Jason >> >> >> >> -- >> >> For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss >> >> --- >> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups >> >> "BeagleBoard" group. >> >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >> an >> >> email to [email protected]. >> >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> >> >> > >> >> >> -- >> Charles Steinkuehler >> [email protected] >> >> -- >> For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "BeagleBoard" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BeagleBoard" group. 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