[quote]In my humble opinion, you fellows have backed the
wrong horse.[/quote]
Some how I missed the fact that Gadgeteer was developed to kill Arduino. Silly me…
I had always thought that the craftsman was more important than the tool. Again silly me…
@ thegrendel - kill?! This was actually the most difficult point to get across. Will arduino kill Linux? The do not even compare to “kill” each other. Same for gadgeteer, it is a complement not a replacement!!
That said, please come back in couple weeks. We have a new thing coming specifically for the arduino crowd. We would love your feedback.
To clear up some of the confusion about my post, the phrase "Arduino Killer"
came from a Slashdot story a couple of years back. You can look it up.
As for me sticking with the Arduino, thank you, I think I will. I can interface generic
hardware and sensors to it, and not be dependent on Microsoft for drivers and libraries.
I can directly interface it to a Raspberry Pi in a number of ways. And if I want to build something with Arduino functionality, all I need is a $3 ATMega328 chip and a few cheap,
generic components. With the Gadgeteer I’d need expensive plug-in modules to do the same thing.
In all fairness, I’m comfortable with both hardware and software. I built my first computer, based on a National Semi SCMP CPU, thirty-odd years ago. I taught myself C programming a couple of decades back, and this makes modifying and writing Arduino scripts quite palatable. I prefer to build Arduino shields from scratch, no kits, thank you. So, yes, I confess to being an ignorant, know-nothing newbie and defer to your superior judgment. My apologies.
[quote=“thegrendel”]As for me sticking with the Arduino, thank you, I think I will. I can interface generic
hardware and sensors to it, and not be dependent on Microsoft for drivers and libraries.
[/quote]
[quote=“thegrendel”]
this makes modifying and writing Arduino scripts quite palatable. I prefer to build Arduino shields from scratch, no kits, thank you. [/quote]
This is all very possible in the NETMF/Gadgeteer world as well. You can simple “interface generic hardware and sensors to it” as well.
They may not fit your needs, as no solution is all encompassing.
[quote=“thegrendel”]And if I want to build something with Arduino functionality, all I need is a $3 ATMega328 chip and a few cheap,
generic components[/quote]
No one disagrees with you. Arduino is prefect for some things, Linux for other things and gadgeteer for others. Feel free to go back and read the entire thread again.
And come back in couple weeks for the new surprise.
Permit me to make myself clear on one thing.
I do wish GHI well. You’re an American outfit and you employ American
engineers and techs. I sincerely hope that your business endures and
prospers. But, I have misgivings/premonitions/doubts. For example . . .
Just a few years back, Cisco had a near-monopoly on routers.
They were expensive pieces of hardware and Cisco made a ton
of money selling them. Nowadays, not so much. I look at my wireless
router and it’s a $20 (retail, new) throwaway box running a stripped-down
version of Linux. That’s good for me and for people buying routers,
but not so good for Cisco.
Consider tablets and smart phones. Generic Android (again,
stripped-down Linux) devices have the lion’s share of the market.
And Apple and Microsoft aren’t innovating; they’re litigating, but that’s
another story.
Anyhow, the point of all this is that while the American tech sector is using
complex and expensive hardware and proprietary software, meanwhile many
tens of thousands of small outfits in Third World countries are creating generic
workalikes and underselling American-made products. And yes, they’re using
Linux and Arduinos in many cases. Well, I’d hate to see GHI blown away by
Chinese eBay sellers, so please, fellows, diversify and innovate. Be fast on your
feet and assume nothing. Always keep a suitcase packed.
And, yes, best of luck.
I hope I am wrong, but we may have our first troll.
Cisco Router != Linksys Router
More Android devices sold but Apple gets more revenue with its fewer units.
I too am a little confused at where this all comes from…
[quote=“thegrendel”]Consider tablets and smart phones. Generic Android (again,
stripped-down Linux) devices have the lion’s share of the market.
And Apple and Microsoft aren’t innovating; they’re litigating, but that’s
another story.[/quote]
While I’m with you in believing that innovation seems to have stalled lately, I disagree with you on part of this statement. Microsoft was the only company that innovated in the smartphone sector last year. It may not be selling like they’d prefer but they were the only ones that really released something new & innovative.
And if you want to talk about innovation in the microcontroller world, well the Arduino you buy today is almost exactly the same Arduino you bought 5 years ago with the exception that they just recently upgraded to a 32-bit MCU. In my opinion, Gadgeteer is the most innovative microcontroller platform there is at the moment that the “common” man can use.
Over the past year, we’ve seen GHI grow and expand many times. So, I trust that they’re doing just fine with their decision to go this route and I’m certain that they’ll diversify when it makes sense.
To be fair, I’d add the word “usually” to that. Things that require tight timing or real-time performance are going to be difficult to interface with in managed code.