>>People always say they want open source, support, locally manufactured products etc. but then they seem to take pretty much any excuse possible not to support it.
I think you confuse the 2 vocal groups, it is not normally the same people Wanting Locally Manufactured products and wanting Cheap Knock offs, even if both want Open Source
I Love opensource, but I have little respect nor desire to support Arduino LLC, and will happily buy the cheapest board, I will also support projects and vendors by paying a premium if I feel it is worth it.
>Retailers also take quite a big piece of the pie from smaller manufacturers.
Margins are these boards are very very thin, this is why Retailers like SparkFun, Adafruit and other are making their own Arduino Compatible boards because it is more profitable, It is not true that the retailer is taking a "big piece" of the pie selling Aurdinuo LLC licensed boards. this is also why other Platforms are starting to replace the what I consider Overpriced Aurdinuo. I have been starting to use ESP8266 based boards (like NodeMCU) for example. If I want a $40 board I am using a rPI not an Aurdinuo...
I think you confuse the 2 vocal groups, it is not normally the same people Wanting Locally Manufactured products and wanting Cheap Knock offs, even if both want Open Source
I Love opensource, but I have little respect nor desire to support Arduino LLC, and will happily buy the cheapest board, I will also support projects and vendors by paying a premium if I feel it is worth it.
>Retailers also take quite a big piece of the pie from smaller manufacturers.
Margins are these boards are very very thin, this is why Retailers like SparkFun, Adafruit and other are making their own Arduino Compatible boards because it is more profitable, It is not true that the retailer is taking a "big piece" of the pie selling Aurdinuo LLC licensed boards. this is also why other Platforms are starting to replace the what I consider Overpriced Aurdinuo. I have been starting to use ESP8266 based boards (like NodeMCU) for example. If I want a $40 board I am using a rPI not an Aurdinuo...