It's also worth noting that the rapid selling out of hobbyist inventory happens in part because much of the supply is earmarked for industrial customers; we don't actually know if that would still happen if all Pis were sold directly to hobbyists.
I'm still looking for 3 pi zero 2s and trying to be fiscally responsible and not get scalped or further contributing to this mess but wow it's been way too long and it's maddening.
I'm not a company, but I've spent a ton of money on pis (including professionally). I was a big champion and supporter convincing everyone I knew to use them for their projects. Now I'm just mad and looking for any alternative I can find. I know I'm not the only one. How can this not have negative long term consequences??
I know they are just a business at the end of the day but I was all in for years. Rational or not I feel completely betrayed.
When the supply issues happened, they were concerned about not being able to manufacture the devices. That's a multi million dollar investment at stake not to mention the employees and customers that would be impacted. Luckily they figure out a supply.
Compared to that, my as a hobbyist having to be patient to get another pi is completely incosequential.
I think the argument is that there shouldn't be a Pi at the core
Between "retool" and "hobbyist wait" one seems worse.
You may remember car manufacturers had to shut down assembly lines due to chip shortages in the last few years even for non-critical chips. Redesigning around missing components is non trivial though obviously doable
And in one sentence you've nailed its value proposition perfectly. That's what is so special about it.