He's on the list here, saw the post last night. But already deleted it, and cannot remember his username.
On Sun, Apr 13, 2014 at 10:11 PM, Jason Kridner <[email protected]>wrote: > 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. > 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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