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Why we won't be selling Genuino or Arduino any more

blog.pimoroni.com

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Re: Why we won't be selling Genuino or Arduino any more

#191

Post by catdog »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #131
ohitsdom wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the comments that ESP8266's can replace Arduinos. Don't you still need to wire the ESP8266 to a microcontroller? I'm a hardware novice, and I love Arduinos. I'd appreciate any info to help me learn, seems like I'm missing something. To me the ESP8266 is a superior alternative to Arduino wifi shields, not the Arduino itself.

Also, don't you need weird hardware to drop the voltage and connect it to the PC? I've only managed to do anything with NodeMCU so far, which is basically ESP8266 glued to the aforementioned weird hardware.

3,3V is a pretty common if not prevalent voltage level with this type of embedded Hardware, nothing weird. Also these USB to Serial converters are pretty common.

Re: Why we won't be selling Genuino or Arduino any more

#192

Post by mcpherrinm »

barttenbrinke wrote: post #158
win_ini wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar to the nerd question - could you describe your approach to the freezer monitor? I have a cabin I don't live nearby to, and I basically can't keep anything in the freezer. It seems to go out often enough to unfreeze then refreeze the ice cube water. I was thinking a flat thermistor. Then I started thinking - what if it's not the power, but the freezer itself? Now I'm getting into a battery to log when power is…

We used to put a marble and water in an empty camera film roll canister (transparant). Freeze in the freezer and flip over. If you come back and the Marble is frozen on the bottom of the canister: don't eat anything! #lowtech

I've always just put an ice cube in a ziplock bag. If it isn't square, that means it's melted & refrozen. The marble trick seems like it's probably more sensitive, but I also don't have marbles and film canisters laying around.

Re: Why we won't be selling Genuino or Arduino any more

#193

Post by TeMPOraL »

catdog wrote: post #191
TeMPOraL wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, don't you need weird hardware to drop the voltage and connect it to the PC? I've only managed to do anything with NodeMCU so far, which is basically ESP8266 glued to the aforementioned weird hardware.

3,3V is a pretty common if not prevalent voltage level with this type of embedded Hardware, nothing weird. Also these USB to Serial converters are pretty common.

Weird from the POV of an electronics noob, who sees ESP8266 recommended as Arduino-killer. One of the two plugs straight into PC and doesn't require a soldering iron to use...

Re: Why we won't be selling Genuino or Arduino any more

#194

Post by soapdog »

elcct wrote: post #146
soapdog wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My recommendation is a bit different, instead of that, try looking for a local manufacturer and support them. Here in Brazil, people go for the cheap aliexpress clones to the point where some of our own manufacturers are closing shop. In these cases, strengthening the local ecosystem might be interesting and wiser in the long run.

Why? Your manufacturers could focus on something more profitable. What's the point in making another Arduino like board? Supporting non innovative shops is not good in short and long run.

It is like China and the shanzai spirit, first you clone then and make it sustainable then you innovate... (this is my personal opinion, I may be wrong).

I believe that supporting local non innovative shops is better than having no local shops at all.

Re: Why we won't be selling Genuino or Arduino any more

#195

Post by vonklaus »

nathancahill wrote: post #28

Serious question: what are people building with these boards? The recurring projects I've seen are controlling lights, doors/locks and monitoring water in plants. I don't find these particularly compelling, am I missing something? How is this the next big thing?

Anecdotally, I have been using the pi and arduino to learn. They have the basics for small projects and easy interfaces for getting started.

The communities are large and it makes it very easy to find beginner and intermediate projects. I like them both and recommend them. They may not Be the perfect base for a robust IoT project but one can do a lot of interesting things and learn a lot doing beginner and intermediate level projects

Re: Why we won't be selling Genuino or Arduino any more

#196

Post by soapdog »

nfriedly wrote: post #130
soapdog wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not true to all countries and regions. For example, in Brazil a raspberry pi 3 will cost a bit more than USD 100 which is a lot of money for many people and prevent it from being acquired by low and middle income classes which are arguably among the ones that would most benefit from access to this ecosystem. Arduino/Genuinos on the other hand are easily available on our version of eBay and can be purchased as…

Yikes! Is that because the main distributors (RS/Allied Electronics/Newark) charge more to ship it to Brazil, or do they just not ship there at all and make you purchase through more expensive re-sellers? (Or is it something else like tariffs?)

Taxes and greediness play a strong role in Brazil. For example, I just imported 10 Tessels to start a class on IoT. So they charged 98% taxes, (60% import taxes + 20% icms + 18% of administrative fee from UPS).

Re: Why we won't be selling Genuino or Arduino any more

#197

Post by dvt »

nathancahill wrote: post #28

Serious question: what are people building with these boards? The recurring projects I've seen are controlling lights, doors/locks and monitoring water in plants. I don't find these particularly compelling, am I missing something? How is this the next big thing?

I built http://gameref.io with an Arduino board. Not sure about the "next big thing," but it raised a few eyebrows.

Re: Why we won't be selling Genuino or Arduino any more

#198

Post by erikb »

johnsea wrote: post #102

If this [untold Arduino history]( http://arduinohistory.github.io/ ) link is true, it seems like Massimo Banzi is not only difficult to do business with but that he had a very particular way to give credit. Better buy clones...

I never get when people do something like that. In the long run it can only hurt them. And it costs nothing to praise another person's work that resulted in your success.

Re: Why we won't be selling Genuino or Arduino any more

#199

Post by catdog »

Radiant wrote: post #190
michaelt wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For applications that need Wifi, the ESP8266 is indeed a good and very competitively priced product. However, all the wifi magic on the chip is closed source, and the datasheets / documentation are much less complete than chips like the ATmega328 (which the Arduino Uno is based on). The ATmega328 has a 660-page datasheet, whereas the ESP8266 has a 30-page datasheet.

People who can read data sheets tend not to use Arduino.

Maybe, but this (often buggy) closed source stuff and not having a proper data sheet causes a lot of trouble for projects creating these nice firmwares (micropython, nodemcu, …) which people tend to use.

Re: Why we won't be selling Genuino or Arduino any more

#200

Post by ChuckMcM »

johnsea wrote: post #102

If this [untold Arduino history]( http://arduinohistory.github.io/ ) link is true, it seems like Massimo Banzi is not only difficult to do business with but that he had a very particular way to give credit. Better buy clones...

This is ultimately the challenge of open source. It is always sad to hear when people go unrecognized like this, it is of course important for the Arduino folks to position history in a way that makes them look like the main guys.

A lesson I learned early on, and this is a good example, is that all events have a number of facts associated with them. Adding and subtracting facts from the event can change its message in any way the narrator wants. You could say "Alice shot Bob dead, in cold blood." and it sounds like Alice is a murderer, if you add "After using a toothpick to open the handcuffs holding her to the post where Bob had abused her. Alice found a gun in the dresser and picked it up.", followed by "Alice shot Bob dead, in cold blood." More facts, different interpretation of right and wrong.

If you read the Wired article on Arduino you think one thing, if you add facts from this document you think another. General advice, keep a journal and corroborating evidence.

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