Raspberry Pi $35 mini-computer suffers more setback and delays due to a production mistake
After selling at a rate of approximately 700 products per second, causing retailers’ sites to crash, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced yet another setback that will delay the shipments of the budget mini-Linux computers.
During a production error in February while the company was completing its final touches to the first batch of its Model B computers, the manufacturer realized it integrated the wrong ethernet jack, soldering a non-magnetic port into the circuit board. The lack of magnetics meant the computer will not be able to access the Internet, and let’s face it, what’s the point of a computer if you can’t go online?
The hiccup occurred during the manufacturing process which took place in China since the foundation could not afford to pay the higher rate of taxes if the computers were built in Britain, where the company is based. According to the foundation, it recognized the issue earlier this week and attempted to correct the problem as quickly as possible. It also went on to say the issue is minor, and factories are almost finished with replacing the incorrect parts to functioning ones for the first set of circuit boards.
“This means that the first tranche of boards should still go out to customers as we were expecting,” the foundation stated in a blog post on its official site. The post also went on to apologize for the mistake, and promised to try to get the mini-computers out as soon as possible.
However, further batches of Model B circuits will experience delays as the company continues to source the magnetic ethernet jacks, making it a theme that Raspberry Pi’s delays are often attributed to a matter of sourcing its supplies. It’s a difficult situation to be in when you want to put out a highly anticipated product before momentum dies, but finding appropriate production resources aren’t as easy.
If you were hoping to get your hands on the affordable little computer, you’ll have to stalk the retailers site until stock is refilled or put yourself on a waiting list as the first batches of 10,000 units were completely sold out within 24 hours of its release. The foundation has yet to announce when to expect new stock or when the more basic $25 Model A version will come out, so the waiting game continues after eight months since Raspberry Pi surfaced in the technology world.
Among those who intended to purchase Raspberry Pi, a retailer cited an unnamed Middle Eastern country that was planning to purchase a large order of the mini-computers to give out to every school girl, hoping to spark their interests in computer science. This was the primary goal of the foundation, which initially aimed to provide an affordable solution to help education the young and the curious of computer programming.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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