LariSan

I had a few of these "protoplates" made-- I fell in love with the one from AdaFruit for the BeagleBone and really wanted one for the LaunchPad and had some made. 
(I have to thank Bart, if he's on here, for really making my first Ponoko trial-run so smooth). 
 
 
    So here is where you can order the sheet.
It's 14 total plates on the Plastic- Acrylic- Clear- 3mm- P3 sized sheet, which comes out to be about 3.50 for each plate- total about 46.50 (Bart had free shipping since he's a regular user at Ponoko). 
 

  I'm sure there is a more efficient way to arrange these to get more on the same sheet (there was a lot of extra plastic that wasn't used). This was a trail run for me. 
 
It comes in a large sheet, where you only need to pull off your plate
  I left the backing on the plate--     Added the breadboard:    
these breadboards from Mouser (I get them in packs of 10 so it comes out to be about 4.95 a piece)
  The hardest part was to figure out how to connect the LaunchPad to the sheet.  Even though it's nice that the rubber feet were already included... it turned out to be inconvenient. 
The BeagleBone and the Arduinos have screws that allow you to use standoffs.  In this case after trying: hot glue, epoxy, these scrapbooking "zots" (super strong adhesive tapes in dot shape) and double stick tape and found out that all of them don't adhere to the rubber well.  What's worked is Crazy Glue.      Put it on the LaunchPad, set it down and let it dry...    then I peeled off the backing.        I'll get to test these in a workshop soon, but so far I like them, but plan on changing a few things.  I have about three extra that I wouldn't mind sending to anyone who wanted to see it.    It's hard to know which direction is up... I have two sleds and one is right handed and the other is left handed... I guess if I just removed the logo all together I could have it be either right or left handed      This is what I think my next one will look like, but I'm completely open for any suggestions!     Hope that's helpful, I've included the files to make the edits in my dropbox (it's in illustrator and the forum doesn't like the format for some reason). https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6tho7jrplryvyhl/PJAJ22XqpQ
Final- LaunchPad Proto-Sled v1.0- Bart.zip

I had a few of these "protoplates" made-- I fell in love with the one from AdaFruit for the BeagleBone and really wanted one for the LaunchPad and had some made. 
(I have to thank Bart, if he's on here, for really making my first Ponoko trial-run so smooth). 
 
 
    So here is where you can order the sheet.
It's 14 total plates on the Plastic- Acrylic- Clear- 3mm- P3 sized sheet, which comes out to be about 3.50 for each plate- total about 46.50 (Bart had free shipping since he's a regular user at Ponoko). 
 

  I'm sure there is a more efficient way to arrange these to get more on the same sheet (there was a lot of extra plastic that wasn't used). This was a trail run for me. 
 
It comes in a large sheet, where you only need to pull off your plate
  I left the backing on the plate--     Added the breadboard:    
these breadboards from Mouser (I get them in packs of 10 so it comes out to be about 4.95 a piece)
  The hardest part was to figure out how to connect the LaunchPad to the sheet.  Even though it's nice that the rubber feet were already included... it turned out to be inconvenient. 
The BeagleBone and the Arduinos have screws that allow you to use standoffs.  In this case after trying: hot glue, epoxy, these scrapbooking "zots" (super strong adhesive tapes in dot shape) and double stick tape and found out that all of them don't adhere to the rubber well.  What's worked is Crazy Glue.      Put it on the LaunchPad, set it down and let it dry...    then I peeled off the backing.        I'll get to test these in a workshop soon, but so far I like them, but plan on changing a few things.  I have about three extra that I wouldn't mind sending to anyone who wanted to see it.    It's hard to know which direction is up... I have two sleds and one is right handed and the other is left handed... I guess if I just removed the logo all together I could have it be either right or left handed      This is what I think my next one will look like, but I'm completely open for any suggestions!     Hope that's helpful, I've included the files to make the edits in my dropbox (it's in illustrator and the forum doesn't like the format for some reason). https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6tho7jrplryvyhl/PJAJ22XqpQ
Final- LaunchPad Proto-Sled v1.0- Bart.zip

I meant standoffs for the board edges.. there is no way to put the LP on standoffs as there are no holes on it. In the next LP rev, it would be nice to have holes on the 4 corners of the PCB. It helps us mount the LP on stuff.

I had a few of these "protoplates" made-- I fell in love with the one from AdaFruit for the BeagleBone and really wanted one for the LaunchPad and had some made. 
(I have to thank Bart, if he's on here, for really making my first Ponoko trial-run so smooth). 
 
 
    So here is where you can order the sheet.
It's 14 total plates on the Plastic- Acrylic- Clear- 3mm- P3 sized sheet, which comes out to be about 3.50 for each plate- total about 46.50 (Bart had free shipping since he's a regular user at Ponoko). 
 

  I'm sure there is a more efficient way to arrange these to get more on the same sheet (there was a lot of extra plastic that wasn't used). This was a trail run for me. 
 
It comes in a large sheet, where you only need to pull off your plate
  I left the backing on the plate--     Added the breadboard:    
these breadboards from Mouser (I get them in packs of 10 so it comes out to be about 4.95 a piece)
  The hardest part was to figure out how to connect the LaunchPad to the sheet.  Even though it's nice that the rubber feet were already included... it turned out to be inconvenient. 
The BeagleBone and the Arduinos have screws that allow you to use standoffs.  In this case after trying: hot glue, epoxy, these scrapbooking "zots" (super strong adhesive tapes in dot shape) and double stick tape and found out that all of them don't adhere to the rubber well.  What's worked is Crazy Glue.      Put it on the LaunchPad, set it down and let it dry...    then I peeled off the backing.        I'll get to test these in a workshop soon, but so far I like them, but plan on changing a few things.  I have about three extra that I wouldn't mind sending to anyone who wanted to see it.    It's hard to know which direction is up... I have two sleds and one is right handed and the other is left handed... I guess if I just removed the logo all together I could have it be either right or left handed      This is what I think my next one will look like, but I'm completely open for any suggestions!     Hope that's helpful, I've included the files to make the edits in my dropbox (it's in illustrator and the forum doesn't like the format for some reason). https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6tho7jrplryvyhl/PJAJ22XqpQ
Final- LaunchPad Proto-Sled v1.0- Bart.zip

@@LariSan, screw terminals on the four ends.

>Blue Hash: What happened to your keyboard...what laptop is that?
 
LOL, it's the non-Work Laptop I do about 95% of my work on.
My macbook. 
The keyboard is a cover that embarrassingly I have to keep on the laptop because I spend too much time with my laptop doing every day things (e.g. eating). and it's easier to remove the cover, rinse it off and then put it back than cleaning out the computer :-)
 
Thanks for fixing the post. 

Post fixed. Sorry I had to upload the images to 43oh.
The ponoko link screwed up the bottom half of the post.

I had a few of these "protoplates" made-- I fell in love with the one from AdaFruit for the BeagleBone and really wanted one for the LaunchPad and had some made. 
(I have to thank Bart, if he's on here, for really making my first Ponoko trial-run so smooth). 
 
 
    So here is where you can order the sheet.
It's 14 total plates on the Plastic- Acrylic- Clear- 3mm- P3 sized sheet, which comes out to be about 3.50 for each plate- total about 46.50 (Bart had free shipping since he's a regular user at Ponoko). 
 

  I'm sure there is a more efficient way to arrange these to get more on the same sheet (there was a lot of extra plastic that wasn't used). This was a trail run for me. 
 
It comes in a large sheet, where you only need to pull off your plate
  I left the backing on the plate--     Added the breadboard:    
these breadboards from Mouser (I get them in packs of 10 so it comes out to be about 4.95 a piece)
  The hardest part was to figure out how to connect the LaunchPad to the sheet.  Even though it's nice that the rubber feet were already included... it turned out to be inconvenient. 
The BeagleBone and the Arduinos have screws that allow you to use standoffs.  In this case after trying: hot glue, epoxy, these scrapbooking "zots" (super strong adhesive tapes in dot shape) and double stick tape and found out that all of them don't adhere to the rubber well.  What's worked is Crazy Glue.      Put it on the LaunchPad, set it down and let it dry...    then I peeled off the backing.        I'll get to test these in a workshop soon, but so far I like them, but plan on changing a few things.  I have about three extra that I wouldn't mind sending to anyone who wanted to see it.    It's hard to know which direction is up... I have two sleds and one is right handed and the other is left handed... I guess if I just removed the logo all together I could have it be either right or left handed      This is what I think my next one will look like, but I'm completely open for any suggestions!     Hope that's helpful, I've included the files to make the edits in my dropbox (it's in illustrator and the forum doesn't like the format for some reason). https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6tho7jrplryvyhl/PJAJ22XqpQ
Final- LaunchPad Proto-Sled v1.0- Bart.zip

I had a few of these "protoplates" made-- I fell in love with the one from AdaFruit for the BeagleBone and really wanted one for the LaunchPad and had some made. 
(I have to thank Bart, if he's on here, for really making my first Ponoko trial-run so smooth). 
 
 
    So here is where you can order the sheet.
It's 14 total plates on the Plastic- Acrylic- Clear- 3mm- P3 sized sheet, which comes out to be about 3.50 for each plate- total about 46.50 (Bart had free shipping since he's a regular user at Ponoko). 
 

  I'm sure there is a more efficient way to arrange these to get more on the same sheet (there was a lot of extra plastic that wasn't used). This was a trail run for me. 
 
It comes in a large sheet, where you only need to pull off your plate
  I left the backing on the plate--     Added the breadboard:    
these breadboards from Mouser (I get them in packs of 10 so it comes out to be about 4.95 a piece)
  The hardest part was to figure out how to connect the LaunchPad to the sheet.  Even though it's nice that the rubber feet were already included... it turned out to be inconvenient. 
The BeagleBone and the Arduinos have screws that allow you to use standoffs.  In this case after trying: hot glue, epoxy, these scrapbooking "zots" (super strong adhesive tapes in dot shape) and double stick tape and found out that all of them don't adhere to the rubber well.  What's worked is Crazy Glue.      Put it on the LaunchPad, set it down and let it dry...    then I peeled off the backing.        I'll get to test these in a workshop soon, but so far I like them, but plan on changing a few things.  I have about three extra that I wouldn't mind sending to anyone who wanted to see it.    It's hard to know which direction is up... I have two sleds and one is right handed and the other is left handed... I guess if I just removed the logo all together I could have it be either right or left handed      This is what I think my next one will look like, but I'm completely open for any suggestions!     Hope that's helpful, I've included the files to make the edits in my dropbox (it's in illustrator and the forum doesn't like the format for some reason). https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6tho7jrplryvyhl/PJAJ22XqpQ
Final- LaunchPad Proto-Sled v1.0- Bart.zip

I had a few of these "protoplates" made-- I fell in love with the one from AdaFruit for the BeagleBone and really wanted one for the LaunchPad and had some made. 
(I have to thank Bart, if he's on here, for really making my first Ponoko trial-run so smooth). 
 
 
    So here is where you can order the sheet.
It's 14 total plates on the Plastic- Acrylic- Clear- 3mm- P3 sized sheet, which comes out to be about 3.50 for each plate- total about 46.50 (Bart had free shipping since he's a regular user at Ponoko). 
 

  I'm sure there is a more efficient way to arrange these to get more on the same sheet (there was a lot of extra plastic that wasn't used). This was a trail run for me. 
 
It comes in a large sheet, where you only need to pull off your plate
  I left the backing on the plate--     Added the breadboard:    
these breadboards from Mouser (I get them in packs of 10 so it comes out to be about 4.95 a piece)
  The hardest part was to figure out how to connect the LaunchPad to the sheet.  Even though it's nice that the rubber feet were already included... it turned out to be inconvenient. 
The BeagleBone and the Arduinos have screws that allow you to use standoffs.  In this case after trying: hot glue, epoxy, these scrapbooking "zots" (super strong adhesive tapes in dot shape) and double stick tape and found out that all of them don't adhere to the rubber well.  What's worked is Crazy Glue.      Put it on the LaunchPad, set it down and let it dry...    then I peeled off the backing.        I'll get to test these in a workshop soon, but so far I like them, but plan on changing a few things.  I have about three extra that I wouldn't mind sending to anyone who wanted to see it.    It's hard to know which direction is up... I have two sleds and one is right handed and the other is left handed... I guess if I just removed the logo all together I could have it be either right or left handed      This is what I think my next one will look like, but I'm completely open for any suggestions!     Hope that's helpful, I've included the files to make the edits in my dropbox (it's in illustrator and the forum doesn't like the format for some reason). https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6tho7jrplryvyhl/PJAJ22XqpQ
Final- LaunchPad Proto-Sled v1.0- Bart.zip

I had a few of these "protoplates" made-- I fell in love with the one from AdaFruit for the BeagleBone and really wanted one for the LaunchPad and had some made. 
(I have to thank Bart, if he's on here, for really making my first Ponoko trial-run so smooth). 
 
 
    So here is where you can order the sheet.
It's 14 total plates on the Plastic- Acrylic- Clear- 3mm- P3 sized sheet, which comes out to be about 3.50 for each plate- total about 46.50 (Bart had free shipping since he's a regular user at Ponoko). 
 

  I'm sure there is a more efficient way to arrange these to get more on the same sheet (there was a lot of extra plastic that wasn't used). This was a trail run for me. 
 
It comes in a large sheet, where you only need to pull off your plate
  I left the backing on the plate--     Added the breadboard:    
these breadboards from Mouser (I get them in packs of 10 so it comes out to be about 4.95 a piece)
  The hardest part was to figure out how to connect the LaunchPad to the sheet.  Even though it's nice that the rubber feet were already included... it turned out to be inconvenient. 
The BeagleBone and the Arduinos have screws that allow you to use standoffs.  In this case after trying: hot glue, epoxy, these scrapbooking "zots" (super strong adhesive tapes in dot shape) and double stick tape and found out that all of them don't adhere to the rubber well.  What's worked is Crazy Glue.      Put it on the LaunchPad, set it down and let it dry...    then I peeled off the backing.        I'll get to test these in a workshop soon, but so far I like them, but plan on changing a few things.  I have about three extra that I wouldn't mind sending to anyone who wanted to see it.    It's hard to know which direction is up... I have two sleds and one is right handed and the other is left handed... I guess if I just removed the logo all together I could have it be either right or left handed      This is what I think my next one will look like, but I'm completely open for any suggestions!     Hope that's helpful, I've included the files to make the edits in my dropbox (it's in illustrator and the forum doesn't like the format for some reason). https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6tho7jrplryvyhl/PJAJ22XqpQ
Final- LaunchPad Proto-Sled v1.0- Bart.zip

Larissa, thanks for taking the time to explain some of the background info to us. Communication effort on the part of the manufacture is greatly appreciated and shows us your listening!



I'd say 43oh.com & its awesome members are quite decent partners to have for making the 430 ecosystem grow & even in the educational realm. Do note that the majority of us have no interest in making mega bucks off the msp430 and we all were certainly okay with that. Were all in this simply because its fun. Many of us enjoy working on a MCU development platform that was sub par to none in terms of price point. The price point of this platform inspired us to teach other members, write documentation for it, and create boosterpacks...ect. While you may gain some members with this move you will certainly lose others. Because as many members have already mentioned, more than doubling the price simply isn't competitive with what already exists out there. Don't forget your original member base! There was something significantly novel about you and your friends being able to develop on micro controllers for just $4.30.
 

Larissa - I appreciate that you've been very open about what's going on.  If raising the price leads to people buying kits from partners (sparkfun, adafruit, etc.) - then I think it would be great.  Especially if that takes them into building booster packs.  If it leads to a bigger community - that would be great.  Hopefully TI knows what they're doing and has looked at all the angles...

Thanks a lot for this behind-the-scenes insight on why the rise is good for the msp430 ecosystem.

Thank you Larissa!  I figured there was a long story behind it but I'm even more impressed that you were able to share it with us (corporate matters aren't always shareable as I know!)
 
My own thoughts in light of that are that TI's between a rock & a hard place, $10 for the LP sucks but the idea is other companies can sell it for $10 or $15 with extra value  Meanwhile TI doesn't have much else to toss in the existing box.
 
Perhaps the low-cost option could be bare PCB+headers+chips (solder-it-yourself) sold through the 43oh store for those who really need throwaway project boards... and it's not like you need 5 or 10 Spy-Bi-Wire emulators, just one that plugs into an existing v1.5 LP would suffice (my F5172 LP works that way).  I think the 43oh store does have some bare PCBs, just need the chips and headers bundled together into a single purchase... (but I don't know if it can touch the $4.30 price point either)
 
The price point of the ARM competition is still a valid point, but the complexity and legwork required to get those up and running makes the argument a little more "hot air" than anything else.  It just reinforces the point that the MSP430 LaunchPad is meant for educational purposes, not a high-powered bang for your buck solution.  Folks pay $30+ for Arduino after all.

I'm a little afraid that I'll step into a big pile here, but I wanted to offer a couple of nuggets *please keep in mind that I usually only deal with University Partners, so I come from a slightly unique perspective. 
 
The LaunchPad has pretty much changed TI's place in the Microcontroller market and especially in Education. 
For me, I've been able to open up a lot of educational doors with the price point and what the kit could offer. However, the past year I've been watching it slow down a bit as the "4.30" on it's own isn't as compelling. The requests started to come in that I find ways to bundle the LaunchPad + Breadboard + Wires or , LaunchPad + BoosterPack combo or LaunchPad + Book + Training material... 
So, I went to look and see how I could get some of these requests fulfilled. 
Turns out--
The eStore can't do much than stock TI Standard kits, nor can they really bundle. 
DigiKey, Mouser, Newark -- have bundling options, but it's horrific to set these up, let alone have to manage the paperwork associated with the bill backs for services. 
I didn't even try with Arrow and Avnet because they weren't interested in anything that didn't generate serious money (e.g. Big Customers)...
 
So, I turned to some of the "hobby" distributors (e.g. Sparkfun, some local ones in India and Europe), went to a couple of conferences, met with some of the decision makers...
and asked them, "What can I do to get you to stock LaunchPads and offer "bundles" and trainings/services.?" All of them were interested, but when they saw that they would be buying the LaunchPad at the same price that TI was selling it for... backed out. 
There was absolutely no money in it for them. 
It costs money to inventory, stock, manage paperwork-- and time. (that's not even developing training and marketing) Sure, some universities would pay for value added services, but what was incentivising someone to buy from them (person providing the service)? Plus, the amount of effort + the pay out... for most of them wasn't worth it. 
I talked to no fewer than fifteen different educational distributors... and got a similar story. It started to become really clear that TI was indirectly competing against the same people that we needed to offer more/better services (at least in Education). 
 
To make sure I didn't give up on the 4.30 model... I tried a few things. (A little lengthy story, but I think this illustrates the best one)
I donated the entire LaunchPad inventory to a few of my partners (IEEE groups who were doing ebay purchases and bundles). 
Great for the first semester, but come re-order time-- I had run out of budget. 
So, the IEEE group had to switch and instead used the Arduino... and found students were willing to pay the 50.00 (when the previous was 24.00). 
When semester came around and I had budget, I called asked them if they wanted to try again... and they declined me. They would rather set up the store to not have to manually switch everything over just because I couldn't donate the kits!
So, I asked, how about buying them? I'll make sure that you can always purchase them at a discount, (which was almost nothing because $4.30 was pretty much rock bottom). 
Declined again-- with the Arduino the IEEE group was able to get them at 21.00 and reselling the boards for 30.00. That was 9.00 of extra margin they could use, if I wasn't giving them the LaunchPads free... all the time, there was absolutely no incentive for them to move over. (Insert "using Industry tools blah blah blah" argument, still couldn't switch them over). 
 
Granted, one IEEE group is NOT everyone else, but the concerns were similar. 
It showed me (at least in my space) that the only way I could push LaunchPad was through my program-- which is limited by my budget and what other things that I wanted to accomplish that year. The only way that I could grow LaunchPad in Education--> was increasing the level of service and offerings around LaunchPad--> which was beyond what TI could do on our own and  I could only accomplish by getting good partners-->and the only way to get good partners... was frankly-- help them make money. Successful Partner with LaunchPad meant Successful TI University Program. 
 
So, although it sucks right now, I really see this as a good idea-- for a long term strategy. 
We really could have done a much better job communicating the price change... it is never fun to find out on your own. 
There were always be TI Deals, half off coupons, Tech Day incentives.... heck, come visit me at any of my University visits, write a request, or our trade shows and you will be able to get a LaunchPads for free or a discount. We owe a lot to the community and want to continue to support it, but at the same time we're fairly realistic that a community is a lot more than just cheap hardware, that's what got us up and running and started, but now we really need to focus on enabling the very people that helped build it up-- enabling them to potentially create a business model around all the work that is being put in. Take a look at the Arduino, it was an open sourced hardware, intuitive user experience platform (the LaunchPad is also Open Hardware and now has Energia), but what really differentiates the Arduino from LaunchPad is the fact that people can make money by being part of the ecosystem-- through their own Hardware, Software contributions, Training, Bundling... etc. etc. 
 
I'm by no means the official LaunchPad communication channel,  but I'm a rather large constituent of it-- we're working hard on the next few steps we need to take on finding ways to grow -- and how honest, vocal and engaged everyone is critical for that (WE ARE Listening), so please keep letting us know what you think. 
 
Anyways, that's just my 2 cents... 
-Larissa

Hey FJ, when you are ready to order more LaunchPads, drop us a note at univ@ti.com 
Our program coordinator who is on the other side of that e-mail should be able to help you out.
 
 

 
 
Even better that you already are talking to Nuria. 
She should be able to offer you the same. 
 
If you run into any issues, post your questions here-- the entire team is subscribed to posts here and is very responsive-- on the University forums http://e2e.ti.com/group/universityprogram/educators/f/default.aspx 

I'm from Europe and we have Nuria Llin, the european counterpart to Larissa. We are currently in contact with her and they are going to support us but maybe we will end up with v1.4 instead of v1.5, nothing that some new chips and a few bridges couldn't solve.

So I went off and did some comparison shopping and created a spreadsheet filled with development boards and chips that are easily available and can be bought in small quantities. While I like the msp430 for small projects requiring less than 16k/512b. What TI offers when you want more than that puts you into surface mount chips and higher prices. My spreadsheet looks at alternatives that could fit the bill when you want a little more flash ~32K, > 25 MHz cpu speed and ~2K of ram. My personal priorities are probably different than yours. On the spreadsheet I ordered the columns left to right based on what I want. I didn't look at 8 bit processors as I don't have any desire to go backwards.
 
Nothing scientific here, just a gut feel on how I rank them. Don't complain about my choices, I'm just sharing with the group. Lots of extra info when you hover over the cells, with links to the boards and chips.
 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhIbUzSEOlORdGFVWDZ0dnIxNm5zTlc4bGxfTDlTQ2c#gid=0
 
-rick

I'm a little afraid that I'll step into a big pile here, but I wanted to offer a couple of nuggets *please keep in mind that I usually only deal with University Partners, so I come from a slightly unique perspective. 
 
The LaunchPad has pretty much changed TI's place in the Microcontroller market and especially in Education. 
For me, I've been able to open up a lot of educational doors with the price point and what the kit could offer. However, the past year I've been watching it slow down a bit as the "4.30" on it's own isn't as compelling. The requests started to come in that I find ways to bundle the LaunchPad + Breadboard + Wires or , LaunchPad + BoosterPack combo or LaunchPad + Book + Training material... 
So, I went to look and see how I could get some of these requests fulfilled. 
Turns out--
The eStore can't do much than stock TI Standard kits, nor can they really bundle. 
DigiKey, Mouser, Newark -- have bundling options, but it's horrific to set these up, let alone have to manage the paperwork associated with the bill backs for services. 
I didn't even try with Arrow and Avnet because they weren't interested in anything that didn't generate serious money (e.g. Big Customers)...
 
So, I turned to some of the "hobby" distributors (e.g. Sparkfun, some local ones in India and Europe), went to a couple of conferences, met with some of the decision makers...
and asked them, "What can I do to get you to stock LaunchPads and offer "bundles" and trainings/services.?" All of them were interested, but when they saw that they would be buying the LaunchPad at the same price that TI was selling it for... backed out. 
There was absolutely no money in it for them. 
It costs money to inventory, stock, manage paperwork-- and time. (that's not even developing training and marketing) Sure, some universities would pay for value added services, but what was incentivising someone to buy from them (person providing the service)? Plus, the amount of effort + the pay out... for most of them wasn't worth it. 
I talked to no fewer than fifteen different educational distributors... and got a similar story. It started to become really clear that TI was indirectly competing against the same people that we needed to offer more/better services (at least in Education). 
 
To make sure I didn't give up on the 4.30 model... I tried a few things. (A little lengthy story, but I think this illustrates the best one)
I donated the entire LaunchPad inventory to a few of my partners (IEEE groups who were doing ebay purchases and bundles). 
Great for the first semester, but come re-order time-- I had run out of budget. 
So, the IEEE group had to switch and instead used the Arduino... and found students were willing to pay the 50.00 (when the previous was 24.00). 
When semester came around and I had budget, I called asked them if they wanted to try again... and they declined me. They would rather set up the store to not have to manually switch everything over just because I couldn't donate the kits!
So, I asked, how about buying them? I'll make sure that you can always purchase them at a discount, (which was almost nothing because $4.30 was pretty much rock bottom). 
Declined again-- with the Arduino the IEEE group was able to get them at 21.00 and reselling the boards for 30.00. That was 9.00 of extra margin they could use, if I wasn't giving them the LaunchPads free... all the time, there was absolutely no incentive for them to move over. (Insert "using Industry tools blah blah blah" argument, still couldn't switch them over). 
 
Granted, one IEEE group is NOT everyone else, but the concerns were similar. 
It showed me (at least in my space) that the only way I could push LaunchPad was through my program-- which is limited by my budget and what other things that I wanted to accomplish that year. The only way that I could grow LaunchPad in Education--> was increasing the level of service and offerings around LaunchPad--> which was beyond what TI could do on our own and  I could only accomplish by getting good partners-->and the only way to get good partners... was frankly-- help them make money. Successful Partner with LaunchPad meant Successful TI University Program. 
 
So, although it sucks right now, I really see this as a good idea-- for a long term strategy. 
We really could have done a much better job communicating the price change... it is never fun to find out on your own. 
There were always be TI Deals, half off coupons, Tech Day incentives.... heck, come visit me at any of my University visits, write a request, or our trade shows and you will be able to get a LaunchPads for free or a discount. We owe a lot to the community and want to continue to support it, but at the same time we're fairly realistic that a community is a lot more than just cheap hardware, that's what got us up and running and started, but now we really need to focus on enabling the very people that helped build it up-- enabling them to potentially create a business model around all the work that is being put in. Take a look at the Arduino, it was an open sourced hardware, intuitive user experience platform (the LaunchPad is also Open Hardware and now has Energia), but what really differentiates the Arduino from LaunchPad is the fact that people can make money by being part of the ecosystem-- through their own Hardware, Software contributions, Training, Bundling... etc. etc. 
 
I'm by no means the official LaunchPad communication channel,  but I'm a rather large constituent of it-- we're working hard on the next few steps we need to take on finding ways to grow -- and how honest, vocal and engaged everyone is critical for that (WE ARE Listening), so please keep letting us know what you think. 
 
Anyways, that's just my 2 cents... 
-Larissa

I'm a little afraid that I'll step into a big pile here, but I wanted to offer a couple of nuggets *please keep in mind that I usually only deal with University Partners, so I come from a slightly unique perspective. 
 
The LaunchPad has pretty much changed TI's place in the Microcontroller market and especially in Education. 
For me, I've been able to open up a lot of educational doors with the price point and what the kit could offer. However, the past year I've been watching it slow down a bit as the "4.30" on it's own isn't as compelling. The requests started to come in that I find ways to bundle the LaunchPad + Breadboard + Wires or , LaunchPad + BoosterPack combo or LaunchPad + Book + Training material... 
So, I went to look and see how I could get some of these requests fulfilled. 
Turns out--
The eStore can't do much than stock TI Standard kits, nor can they really bundle. 
DigiKey, Mouser, Newark -- have bundling options, but it's horrific to set these up, let alone have to manage the paperwork associated with the bill backs for services. 
I didn't even try with Arrow and Avnet because they weren't interested in anything that didn't generate serious money (e.g. Big Customers)...
 
So, I turned to some of the "hobby" distributors (e.g. Sparkfun, some local ones in India and Europe), went to a couple of conferences, met with some of the decision makers...
and asked them, "What can I do to get you to stock LaunchPads and offer "bundles" and trainings/services.?" All of them were interested, but when they saw that they would be buying the LaunchPad at the same price that TI was selling it for... backed out. 
There was absolutely no money in it for them. 
It costs money to inventory, stock, manage paperwork-- and time. (that's not even developing training and marketing) Sure, some universities would pay for value added services, but what was incentivising someone to buy from them (person providing the service)? Plus, the amount of effort + the pay out... for most of them wasn't worth it. 
I talked to no fewer than fifteen different educational distributors... and got a similar story. It started to become really clear that TI was indirectly competing against the same people that we needed to offer more/better services (at least in Education). 
 
To make sure I didn't give up on the 4.30 model... I tried a few things. (A little lengthy story, but I think this illustrates the best one)
I donated the entire LaunchPad inventory to a few of my partners (IEEE groups who were doing ebay purchases and bundles). 
Great for the first semester, but come re-order time-- I had run out of budget. 
So, the IEEE group had to switch and instead used the Arduino... and found students were willing to pay the 50.00 (when the previous was 24.00). 
When semester came around and I had budget, I called asked them if they wanted to try again... and they declined me. They would rather set up the store to not have to manually switch everything over just because I couldn't donate the kits!
So, I asked, how about buying them? I'll make sure that you can always purchase them at a discount, (which was almost nothing because $4.30 was pretty much rock bottom). 
Declined again-- with the Arduino the IEEE group was able to get them at 21.00 and reselling the boards for 30.00. That was 9.00 of extra margin they could use, if I wasn't giving them the LaunchPads free... all the time, there was absolutely no incentive for them to move over. (Insert "using Industry tools blah blah blah" argument, still couldn't switch them over). 
 
Granted, one IEEE group is NOT everyone else, but the concerns were similar. 
It showed me (at least in my space) that the only way I could push LaunchPad was through my program-- which is limited by my budget and what other things that I wanted to accomplish that year. The only way that I could grow LaunchPad in Education--> was increasing the level of service and offerings around LaunchPad--> which was beyond what TI could do on our own and  I could only accomplish by getting good partners-->and the only way to get good partners... was frankly-- help them make money. Successful Partner with LaunchPad meant Successful TI University Program. 
 
So, although it sucks right now, I really see this as a good idea-- for a long term strategy. 
We really could have done a much better job communicating the price change... it is never fun to find out on your own. 
There were always be TI Deals, half off coupons, Tech Day incentives.... heck, come visit me at any of my University visits, write a request, or our trade shows and you will be able to get a LaunchPads for free or a discount. We owe a lot to the community and want to continue to support it, but at the same time we're fairly realistic that a community is a lot more than just cheap hardware, that's what got us up and running and started, but now we really need to focus on enabling the very people that helped build it up-- enabling them to potentially create a business model around all the work that is being put in. Take a look at the Arduino, it was an open sourced hardware, intuitive user experience platform (the LaunchPad is also Open Hardware and now has Energia), but what really differentiates the Arduino from LaunchPad is the fact that people can make money by being part of the ecosystem-- through their own Hardware, Software contributions, Training, Bundling... etc. etc. 
 
I'm by no means the official LaunchPad communication channel,  but I'm a rather large constituent of it-- we're working hard on the next few steps we need to take on finding ways to grow -- and how honest, vocal and engaged everyone is critical for that (WE ARE Listening), so please keep letting us know what you think. 
 
Anyways, that's just my 2 cents... 
-Larissa

I'm a little afraid that I'll step into a big pile here, but I wanted to offer a couple of nuggets *please keep in mind that I usually only deal with University Partners, so I come from a slightly unique perspective. 
 
The LaunchPad has pretty much changed TI's place in the Microcontroller market and especially in Education. 
For me, I've been able to open up a lot of educational doors with the price point and what the kit could offer. However, the past year I've been watching it slow down a bit as the "4.30" on it's own isn't as compelling. The requests started to come in that I find ways to bundle the LaunchPad + Breadboard + Wires or , LaunchPad + BoosterPack combo or LaunchPad + Book + Training material... 
So, I went to look and see how I could get some of these requests fulfilled. 
Turns out--
The eStore can't do much than stock TI Standard kits, nor can they really bundle. 
DigiKey, Mouser, Newark -- have bundling options, but it's horrific to set these up, let alone have to manage the paperwork associated with the bill backs for services. 
I didn't even try with Arrow and Avnet because they weren't interested in anything that didn't generate serious money (e.g. Big Customers)...
 
So, I turned to some of the "hobby" distributors (e.g. Sparkfun, some local ones in India and Europe), went to a couple of conferences, met with some of the decision makers...
and asked them, "What can I do to get you to stock LaunchPads and offer "bundles" and trainings/services.?" All of them were interested, but when they saw that they would be buying the LaunchPad at the same price that TI was selling it for... backed out. 
There was absolutely no money in it for them. 
It costs money to inventory, stock, manage paperwork-- and time. (that's not even developing training and marketing) Sure, some universities would pay for value added services, but what was incentivising someone to buy from them (person providing the service)? Plus, the amount of effort + the pay out... for most of them wasn't worth it. 
I talked to no fewer than fifteen different educational distributors... and got a similar story. It started to become really clear that TI was indirectly competing against the same people that we needed to offer more/better services (at least in Education). 
 
To make sure I didn't give up on the 4.30 model... I tried a few things. (A little lengthy story, but I think this illustrates the best one)
I donated the entire LaunchPad inventory to a few of my partners (IEEE groups who were doing ebay purchases and bundles). 
Great for the first semester, but come re-order time-- I had run out of budget. 
So, the IEEE group had to switch and instead used the Arduino... and found students were willing to pay the 50.00 (when the previous was 24.00). 
When semester came around and I had budget, I called asked them if they wanted to try again... and they declined me. They would rather set up the store to not have to manually switch everything over just because I couldn't donate the kits!
So, I asked, how about buying them? I'll make sure that you can always purchase them at a discount, (which was almost nothing because $4.30 was pretty much rock bottom). 
Declined again-- with the Arduino the IEEE group was able to get them at 21.00 and reselling the boards for 30.00. That was 9.00 of extra margin they could use, if I wasn't giving them the LaunchPads free... all the time, there was absolutely no incentive for them to move over. (Insert "using Industry tools blah blah blah" argument, still couldn't switch them over). 
 
Granted, one IEEE group is NOT everyone else, but the concerns were similar. 
It showed me (at least in my space) that the only way I could push LaunchPad was through my program-- which is limited by my budget and what other things that I wanted to accomplish that year. The only way that I could grow LaunchPad in Education--> was increasing the level of service and offerings around LaunchPad--> which was beyond what TI could do on our own and  I could only accomplish by getting good partners-->and the only way to get good partners... was frankly-- help them make money. Successful Partner with LaunchPad meant Successful TI University Program. 
 
So, although it sucks right now, I really see this as a good idea-- for a long term strategy. 
We really could have done a much better job communicating the price change... it is never fun to find out on your own. 
There were always be TI Deals, half off coupons, Tech Day incentives.... heck, come visit me at any of my University visits, write a request, or our trade shows and you will be able to get a LaunchPads for free or a discount. We owe a lot to the community and want to continue to support it, but at the same time we're fairly realistic that a community is a lot more than just cheap hardware, that's what got us up and running and started, but now we really need to focus on enabling the very people that helped build it up-- enabling them to potentially create a business model around all the work that is being put in. Take a look at the Arduino, it was an open sourced hardware, intuitive user experience platform (the LaunchPad is also Open Hardware and now has Energia), but what really differentiates the Arduino from LaunchPad is the fact that people can make money by being part of the ecosystem-- through their own Hardware, Software contributions, Training, Bundling... etc. etc. 
 
I'm by no means the official LaunchPad communication channel,  but I'm a rather large constituent of it-- we're working hard on the next few steps we need to take on finding ways to grow -- and how honest, vocal and engaged everyone is critical for that (WE ARE Listening), so please keep letting us know what you think. 
 
Anyways, that's just my 2 cents... 
-Larissa

I'm a little afraid that I'll step into a big pile here, but I wanted to offer a couple of nuggets *please keep in mind that I usually only deal with University Partners, so I come from a slightly unique perspective. 
 
The LaunchPad has pretty much changed TI's place in the Microcontroller market and especially in Education. 
For me, I've been able to open up a lot of educational doors with the price point and what the kit could offer. However, the past year I've been watching it slow down a bit as the "4.30" on it's own isn't as compelling. The requests started to come in that I find ways to bundle the LaunchPad + Breadboard + Wires or , LaunchPad + BoosterPack combo or LaunchPad + Book + Training material... 
So, I went to look and see how I could get some of these requests fulfilled. 
Turns out--
The eStore can't do much than stock TI Standard kits, nor can they really bundle. 
DigiKey, Mouser, Newark -- have bundling options, but it's horrific to set these up, let alone have to manage the paperwork associated with the bill backs for services. 
I didn't even try with Arrow and Avnet because they weren't interested in anything that didn't generate serious money (e.g. Big Customers)...
 
So, I turned to some of the "hobby" distributors (e.g. Sparkfun, some local ones in India and Europe), went to a couple of conferences, met with some of the decision makers...
and asked them, "What can I do to get you to stock LaunchPads and offer "bundles" and trainings/services.?" All of them were interested, but when they saw that they would be buying the LaunchPad at the same price that TI was selling it for... backed out. 
There was absolutely no money in it for them. 
It costs money to inventory, stock, manage paperwork-- and time. (that's not even developing training and marketing) Sure, some universities would pay for value added services, but what was incentivising someone to buy from them (person providing the service)? Plus, the amount of effort + the pay out... for most of them wasn't worth it. 
I talked to no fewer than fifteen different educational distributors... and got a similar story. It started to become really clear that TI was indirectly competing against the same people that we needed to offer more/better services (at least in Education). 
 
To make sure I didn't give up on the 4.30 model... I tried a few things. (A little lengthy story, but I think this illustrates the best one)
I donated the entire LaunchPad inventory to a few of my partners (IEEE groups who were doing ebay purchases and bundles). 
Great for the first semester, but come re-order time-- I had run out of budget. 
So, the IEEE group had to switch and instead used the Arduino... and found students were willing to pay the 50.00 (when the previous was 24.00). 
When semester came around and I had budget, I called asked them if they wanted to try again... and they declined me. They would rather set up the store to not have to manually switch everything over just because I couldn't donate the kits!
So, I asked, how about buying them? I'll make sure that you can always purchase them at a discount, (which was almost nothing because $4.30 was pretty much rock bottom). 
Declined again-- with the Arduino the IEEE group was able to get them at 21.00 and reselling the boards for 30.00. That was 9.00 of extra margin they could use, if I wasn't giving them the LaunchPads free... all the time, there was absolutely no incentive for them to move over. (Insert "using Industry tools blah blah blah" argument, still couldn't switch them over). 
 
Granted, one IEEE group is NOT everyone else, but the concerns were similar. 
It showed me (at least in my space) that the only way I could push LaunchPad was through my program-- which is limited by my budget and what other things that I wanted to accomplish that year. The only way that I could grow LaunchPad in Education--> was increasing the level of service and offerings around LaunchPad--> which was beyond what TI could do on our own and  I could only accomplish by getting good partners-->and the only way to get good partners... was frankly-- help them make money. Successful Partner with LaunchPad meant Successful TI University Program. 
 
So, although it sucks right now, I really see this as a good idea-- for a long term strategy. 
We really could have done a much better job communicating the price change... it is never fun to find out on your own. 
There were always be TI Deals, half off coupons, Tech Day incentives.... heck, come visit me at any of my University visits, write a request, or our trade shows and you will be able to get a LaunchPads for free or a discount. We owe a lot to the community and want to continue to support it, but at the same time we're fairly realistic that a community is a lot more than just cheap hardware, that's what got us up and running and started, but now we really need to focus on enabling the very people that helped build it up-- enabling them to potentially create a business model around all the work that is being put in. Take a look at the Arduino, it was an open sourced hardware, intuitive user experience platform (the LaunchPad is also Open Hardware and now has Energia), but what really differentiates the Arduino from LaunchPad is the fact that people can make money by being part of the ecosystem-- through their own Hardware, Software contributions, Training, Bundling... etc. etc. 
 
I'm by no means the official LaunchPad communication channel,  but I'm a rather large constituent of it-- we're working hard on the next few steps we need to take on finding ways to grow -- and how honest, vocal and engaged everyone is critical for that (WE ARE Listening), so please keep letting us know what you think. 
 
Anyways, that's just my 2 cents... 
-Larissa

I'm a little afraid that I'll step into a big pile here, but I wanted to offer a couple of nuggets *please keep in mind that I usually only deal with University Partners, so I come from a slightly unique perspective. 
 
The LaunchPad has pretty much changed TI's place in the Microcontroller market and especially in Education. 
For me, I've been able to open up a lot of educational doors with the price point and what the kit could offer. However, the past year I've been watching it slow down a bit as the "4.30" on it's own isn't as compelling. The requests started to come in that I find ways to bundle the LaunchPad + Breadboard + Wires or , LaunchPad + BoosterPack combo or LaunchPad + Book + Training material... 
So, I went to look and see how I could get some of these requests fulfilled. 
Turns out--
The eStore can't do much than stock TI Standard kits, nor can they really bundle. 
DigiKey, Mouser, Newark -- have bundling options, but it's horrific to set these up, let alone have to manage the paperwork associated with the bill backs for services. 
I didn't even try with Arrow and Avnet because they weren't interested in anything that didn't generate serious money (e.g. Big Customers)...
 
So, I turned to some of the "hobby" distributors (e.g. Sparkfun, some local ones in India and Europe), went to a couple of conferences, met with some of the decision makers...
and asked them, "What can I do to get you to stock LaunchPads and offer "bundles" and trainings/services.?" All of them were interested, but when they saw that they would be buying the LaunchPad at the same price that TI was selling it for... backed out. 
There was absolutely no money in it for them. 
It costs money to inventory, stock, manage paperwork-- and time. (that's not even developing training and marketing) Sure, some universities would pay for value added services, but what was incentivising someone to buy from them (person providing the service)? Plus, the amount of effort + the pay out... for most of them wasn't worth it. 
I talked to no fewer than fifteen different educational distributors... and got a similar story. It started to become really clear that TI was indirectly competing against the same people that we needed to offer more/better services (at least in Education). 
 
To make sure I didn't give up on the 4.30 model... I tried a few things. (A little lengthy story, but I think this illustrates the best one)
I donated the entire LaunchPad inventory to a few of my partners (IEEE groups who were doing ebay purchases and bundles). 
Great for the first semester, but come re-order time-- I had run out of budget. 
So, the IEEE group had to switch and instead used the Arduino... and found students were willing to pay the 50.00 (when the previous was 24.00). 
When semester came around and I had budget, I called asked them if they wanted to try again... and they declined me. They would rather set up the store to not have to manually switch everything over just because I couldn't donate the kits!
So, I asked, how about buying them? I'll make sure that you can always purchase them at a discount, (which was almost nothing because $4.30 was pretty much rock bottom). 
Declined again-- with the Arduino the IEEE group was able to get them at 21.00 and reselling the boards for 30.00. That was 9.00 of extra margin they could use, if I wasn't giving them the LaunchPads free... all the time, there was absolutely no incentive for them to move over. (Insert "using Industry tools blah blah blah" argument, still couldn't switch them over). 
 
Granted, one IEEE group is NOT everyone else, but the concerns were similar. 
It showed me (at least in my space) that the only way I could push LaunchPad was through my program-- which is limited by my budget and what other things that I wanted to accomplish that year. The only way that I could grow LaunchPad in Education--> was increasing the level of service and offerings around LaunchPad--> which was beyond what TI could do on our own and  I could only accomplish by getting good partners-->and the only way to get good partners... was frankly-- help them make money. Successful Partner with LaunchPad meant Successful TI University Program. 
 
So, although it sucks right now, I really see this as a good idea-- for a long term strategy. 
We really could have done a much better job communicating the price change... it is never fun to find out on your own. 
There were always be TI Deals, half off coupons, Tech Day incentives.... heck, come visit me at any of my University visits, write a request, or our trade shows and you will be able to get a LaunchPads for free or a discount. We owe a lot to the community and want to continue to support it, but at the same time we're fairly realistic that a community is a lot more than just cheap hardware, that's what got us up and running and started, but now we really need to focus on enabling the very people that helped build it up-- enabling them to potentially create a business model around all the work that is being put in. Take a look at the Arduino, it was an open sourced hardware, intuitive user experience platform (the LaunchPad is also Open Hardware and now has Energia), but what really differentiates the Arduino from LaunchPad is the fact that people can make money by being part of the ecosystem-- through their own Hardware, Software contributions, Training, Bundling... etc. etc. 
 
I'm by no means the official LaunchPad communication channel,  but I'm a rather large constituent of it-- we're working hard on the next few steps we need to take on finding ways to grow -- and how honest, vocal and engaged everyone is critical for that (WE ARE Listening), so please keep letting us know what you think. 
 
Anyways, that's just my 2 cents... 
-Larissa

I'm a little afraid that I'll step into a big pile here, but I wanted to offer a couple of nuggets *please keep in mind that I usually only deal with University Partners, so I come from a slightly unique perspective. 
 
The LaunchPad has pretty much changed TI's place in the Microcontroller market and especially in Education. 
For me, I've been able to open up a lot of educational doors with the price point and what the kit could offer. However, the past year I've been watching it slow down a bit as the "4.30" on it's own isn't as compelling. The requests started to come in that I find ways to bundle the LaunchPad + Breadboard + Wires or , LaunchPad + BoosterPack combo or LaunchPad + Book + Training material... 
So, I went to look and see how I could get some of these requests fulfilled. 
Turns out--
The eStore can't do much than stock TI Standard kits, nor can they really bundle. 
DigiKey, Mouser, Newark -- have bundling options, but it's horrific to set these up, let alone have to manage the paperwork associated with the bill backs for services. 
I didn't even try with Arrow and Avnet because they weren't interested in anything that didn't generate serious money (e.g. Big Customers)...
 
So, I turned to some of the "hobby" distributors (e.g. Sparkfun, some local ones in India and Europe), went to a couple of conferences, met with some of the decision makers...
and asked them, "What can I do to get you to stock LaunchPads and offer "bundles" and trainings/services.?" All of them were interested, but when they saw that they would be buying the LaunchPad at the same price that TI was selling it for... backed out. 
There was absolutely no money in it for them. 
It costs money to inventory, stock, manage paperwork-- and time. (that's not even developing training and marketing) Sure, some universities would pay for value added services, but what was incentivising someone to buy from them (person providing the service)? Plus, the amount of effort + the pay out... for most of them wasn't worth it. 
I talked to no fewer than fifteen different educational distributors... and got a similar story. It started to become really clear that TI was indirectly competing against the same people that we needed to offer more/better services (at least in Education). 
 
To make sure I didn't give up on the 4.30 model... I tried a few things. (A little lengthy story, but I think this illustrates the best one)
I donated the entire LaunchPad inventory to a few of my partners (IEEE groups who were doing ebay purchases and bundles). 
Great for the first semester, but come re-order time-- I had run out of budget. 
So, the IEEE group had to switch and instead used the Arduino... and found students were willing to pay the 50.00 (when the previous was 24.00). 
When semester came around and I had budget, I called asked them if they wanted to try again... and they declined me. They would rather set up the store to not have to manually switch everything over just because I couldn't donate the kits!
So, I asked, how about buying them? I'll make sure that you can always purchase them at a discount, (which was almost nothing because $4.30 was pretty much rock bottom). 
Declined again-- with the Arduino the IEEE group was able to get them at 21.00 and reselling the boards for 30.00. That was 9.00 of extra margin they could use, if I wasn't giving them the LaunchPads free... all the time, there was absolutely no incentive for them to move over. (Insert "using Industry tools blah blah blah" argument, still couldn't switch them over). 
 
Granted, one IEEE group is NOT everyone else, but the concerns were similar. 
It showed me (at least in my space) that the only way I could push LaunchPad was through my program-- which is limited by my budget and what other things that I wanted to accomplish that year. The only way that I could grow LaunchPad in Education--> was increasing the level of service and offerings around LaunchPad--> which was beyond what TI could do on our own and  I could only accomplish by getting good partners-->and the only way to get good partners... was frankly-- help them make money. Successful Partner with LaunchPad meant Successful TI University Program. 
 
So, although it sucks right now, I really see this as a good idea-- for a long term strategy. 
We really could have done a much better job communicating the price change... it is never fun to find out on your own. 
There were always be TI Deals, half off coupons, Tech Day incentives.... heck, come visit me at any of my University visits, write a request, or our trade shows and you will be able to get a LaunchPads for free or a discount. We owe a lot to the community and want to continue to support it, but at the same time we're fairly realistic that a community is a lot more than just cheap hardware, that's what got us up and running and started, but now we really need to focus on enabling the very people that helped build it up-- enabling them to potentially create a business model around all the work that is being put in. Take a look at the Arduino, it was an open sourced hardware, intuitive user experience platform (the LaunchPad is also Open Hardware and now has Energia), but what really differentiates the Arduino from LaunchPad is the fact that people can make money by being part of the ecosystem-- through their own Hardware, Software contributions, Training, Bundling... etc. etc. 
 
I'm by no means the official LaunchPad communication channel,  but I'm a rather large constituent of it-- we're working hard on the next few steps we need to take on finding ways to grow -- and how honest, vocal and engaged everyone is critical for that (WE ARE Listening), so please keep letting us know what you think. 
 
Anyways, that's just my 2 cents... 
-Larissa