A comment on the package name for the QuickStart board.
Maybe just me so I will post what I am thinking for others to comment.
By calling it the Multicore Programming Board it gives the impression to
someone who is completely new to Parallax Products that you need this
to program the chips, like a pic programmer.
Granted you need some sort of experimenter's protoboard to get started
so I think a better name would be something along the lines of QuickStart
Experiment board or Project Board
Just a thought I had when I viewed the image, unless I missed something and it
is a Programming Board
Ken
What kind of info is on the back of the packages you show. There is not much space for a lot of detail but
how about the idea of a QR code linked back to the doc's on the Parallax site.
More and more phones can decode the QR code and go to the web link.
I can see the younger generation with there iphone or ipad using the QR code to get the doc on the item
and viewing it while shopping. I am not sure Apple ipad , iphone read pdf's
Good idea, and Android phones and tablets can also read and handle those QR codes via several applications, including Google's own Google Goggles.
Radio Shack suffers from having sales associates that are not "up to speed" on this stuff. We here on the Forums know how cool this stuff is.
I have (3) Radio Shacks near me. I'm going to introduce myself to the guys/gals that work there and show them what can be done (and how to do it!) with this stuff.
I'll get them up to speed on the *coolness* of what we all play with everyday.
The majority of you Forumistas are great teachers here on the Forums - now, let's teach the Radio Shacks - one by one!
In short: Teach the Stores how to have fun, so they can much more effectively communicate to their customers what we experience all the time, so they can have fun too.
If many of you do the same in your neighborhoods - the number of newcomers would grow exponentially!
It's a Win for all parties.
Who's with me?
Hoorah!
-Matt
I'm with you Matt. I will stop by my radio shacks that I know of in Central Illinois and help introduce them to Parallax and the wonder sources for info and help. I'll even take some of my robots and demo them for them.
I wonder if a pad of small info sheets could be hung with the products listing website address, the many free sources available, and pictures of completed projects using the items being sold etc. to help people visualize what can be done or remind of ideas they might have once had.
I've wanted to start an electronics club in our town for some time. This could be the perfect time!
Very glad to have GREAT Parallax products so close and available!
Radio Shack suffers from having sales associates that are not "up to speed" on this stuff. We here on the Forums know how cool this stuff is.
I have (3) Radio Shacks near me. I'm going to introduce myself to the guys/gals that work there and show them what can be done (and how to do it!) with this stuff.
I'll get them up to speed on the *coolness* of what we all play with everyday.
The majority of you Forumistas are great teachers here on the Forums - now, let's teach the Radio Shacks - one by one!
In short: Teach the Stores how to have fun, so they can much more effectively communicate to their customers what we experience all the time, so they can have fun too.
If many of you do the same in your neighborhoods - the number of newcomers would grow exponentially!
A comment on the package name for the QuickStart board.
Maybe just me so I will post what I am thinking for others to comment.
By calling it the Multicore Programming Board it gives the impression to
someone who is completely new to Parallax Products that you need this
to program the chips, like a pic programmer.
Granted you need some sort of experimenter's protoboard to get started
so I think a better name would be something along the lines of QuickStart
Experiment board or Project Board...
THAT is a very difficult thing to do. Think of *who* might look at a product for the first time, then think of a name to give the product which will explain what that product does! And also be limited to the small space on the package.
Glad I don't have that job!
I suppose you could take "test packages" out on the street and ask random people what the thing is? (A street in front of a school of electrical engineering would be cheating!)
Its good to see that Parallax is working with Radio Shack. I am also to see Radio Shack is taking the junk out of the shack and putting more DIY products back in it's stores. I am also glad to see someone is willing from these forums to take time out of there day to teach the sales associates. I hope that someone from that local Radio Shack is willing to make a deal in exchange for teaching the sales associates. But, I don't think it will happen. But, it worth the try.
I am interested in the altimeter. Can you divulge any information on this module yet? Will it be a Radio Shack specific product?
@Parallax
Will there be a guaranteed stock in Corporate run stores versus franchises? Is there any talk about any weekly/monthly local store meetups of hobbyists run by the Corporate stores?
I knew Radio Shack was getting somewhat back into hobbyist market when I noticed the Forrest Mimms books showing up quite a few months ago.
I hate getting blank stares from the workers at Radio Shack ...
Exactly - me too! But there was a time when I had that "blank stare" too. It's was only after someone took the time to "show me the world", that I able to catch the vision of "what I CAN DO".
Even if we only touch the minds of 10% of the RS guys - that's still hundreds of store affected in a positive way - RS makes more sales, newbies are born, our industry grows, more new products are developed, and we all benefit from increased ingenuity and market size.
Do you have a similar plan for the Canadian market? We don't have Radio Shack stores.
I'm pretty certain I visited a Radio Shack store in Ottawa, years ago.. it was inside a shopping mall in Rideau Street as I recall. Bought a European/American mains converter or something, maybe it was just the cable. It's probably nearly 20 years ago though, but google seems to indicate that there are still Radio Shack stores some places in Canada, although the one in Rideau St., Ottawa, may be gone..
I understand The Source (was run by Radio Shack) has a lot of stores.
There's Future Shop, but I think that's more like a Best Buy than a Radio Shack (not surprising because I'm pretty sure Best Buy now owns them).
I like seeing the greater retail channel push, but I think the largest segment will still come from mail order. RobotShop is already a big Parallax reseller for Canada. Same with HVW Tech. Don't know how much volume they push, but I know one thing that might help is if there's an independent (non-parallax.com) site with project examples with code.
I might just take a project or two over to Radio Shack to show them as well.
Did I miss something? What is a 2x16 LCD _with speaker_? (see the second of Ken's photos). There's a speaker built into the LCD somehow?
Are there plans to somehow direct RS customers who buy this stuff over here to the forums? After all, quite a bit of the value of the Parallax products (over what you'd get from Mouser, for example, or even Sparkfun) is the support community.
Oregonians don't speak French, neither do the Canadians in British Columbia -- rather odd. Nonetheless, I must say that I am beginning to wish that we had a Radio Shack in Taiwan. My electronic suppliers mostly have kits still using versions of 8051 chips.
But how to draw nerds and DIYers into the store? Are they going to have projects running in their storefront windows?
People are very used to seeing slick finished products do amazing things but I'd bet that seeing something home made buzzing around in front of them would , psychologically speaking, push a whole different set of buttons.
I may be very wrong about this, but my feeling is that simply having the product in the stores won't make a lot a difference. People need to be shown what to do, and how to do it. They need to see a demonstration of the finished project to get jazzed about it. You don't get that with parts hanging on a slatwall.
I am making the hopeful assumption this is all endemic thinking to Ken and Radio Shack and the other stakeholders in this, but the way to generate interest is one or more of the following:
1. Small, inexpensive books sold at Radio Shack covering many projects you can do with the Parallax product (full source code can be online) -- I'm thinking books very much like Matt's Cookbooks;
2. A big push to create, promote, and exploit Parallax-inspired projects on the Radio Shack's DIY site;
3. Working with authors and contributors to let them know of the product mix available at Radio Shack, so when an article is written about so-and-such, they can say "Available at your local Radio Shack," instead of listing the usual online sources;
4. A publicly editable wiki or "playground," supported by Parallax but not officially connected with them, where people can post their projects. The site would be moderated to prevent abuse.
5. And this heretical suggestion: More examples, using other microcontrollers, for supporting Parallax modular product (gyro, FM module, altimeter, whatever). This simply increases the population of potential customers.
For my part, I'm trying to develop additional examples of Parallax's modular products, and have these published in print or on the Web. But it's slow-going because the current examples and datasheets are centered toward the BS2/Prop. Okay, that makes sense, and I understand why things are this way. But it takes more work to find tidbits like the I2C address. It's in the program demos, in one form or another, but not in the datasheet (I've run into two so far that are this way, the FM Module and the OFN module). These are GREAT products at a TERIFFIC pricepoint, but the datasheet/example problem pretty much locks these out to the average DIYer if their school, Scout den, robotics club, or whatever has settled on another MCU for their projects.
IMO, embracing these other controllers is the key to making all this work. This isn't saying anything about the functionality of BS2 or Prop, but is merely a recognition of the current market.
I may be very wrong about this, but my feeling is that simply having the product in the stores won't make a lot a difference. People need to be shown what to do, and how to do it. They need to see a demonstration of the finished project to get jazzed about it. You don't get that with parts hanging on a slatwall.
I don't know, that exactly what got me hooked on microcontrollers. I had been dabbling in electronics for a few year,s, but didn't know microcontrollers existed until I saw Parallax's Boe bot at RadioShack. I was instantly hooked before I even knew what they did.
I'd say about half of smartphone users know that a "tilt sensor" is called an "accelerometer", so when they see an "accelerometer module" in their local RadioShack, they would probably think "Hey, there is something I can buy that will let me measure tilt the same way my smartphone does? That's cool! I can think of a good use for that..." and then they would look at the other modules, probably finding the "Programming module" that would make it all happen.
Microcontrolled has got it: Relate every possible Parallax to product to something that would be in a cell phone or GPS because 99% of people going to RS are probably getting a cell phone or a GPS.
@Microcontrolled Is that a xenon lamp for the "C" in you avatar?
@piguy101: The avatar is a 3D image that I designed and rendered, not a photo of an actual circuit board. When modeling it, I didn't know what to make for the "C", so I just modeled what I thought looked like a xenon lamp. Due to the way Blender handles the Curve modifier, I couldn't get it to curve properly into a 180 degree turn, so I got the image you see above. Before I go to UPENE, I've been trying to build a physical representation of my avatar, but I can't find that one part.
I've been trying to build a physical representation of my avatar, but I can't find that one part.
@Microcontrolled
You don't need to "find that part, you can make your own! A piece of diffused rubber tubing or a glass tube, a couple of white LEDs, resistors, some hot glue, and some paint (optional).
I'm Canadian and Radioshack was pretty much replaced by The Source. It's the same concept, but with a different name. They still sell (few and overpriced) electronic components. That would be so awesome if you sold these things there!
Yeah, well, my father used to buy electronics there. I know they still exist but I don't think they're selling DIY stuff like Parallax. More like Digi-Key.
How about paying to have your product shown in a movie? Maybe mentioned in a song? Shown on a TV series? Etc. I don't know how much this costs, but here is the info...
Went to one of the local Radio Shacks and they didn't have any products yet and were not aware of the new coming products. Shared with him the new style of packaging and that I was willing to help educate them on the usefulness of the products for DIY projects. He didn't seem too interested and said what they did have didn't ever sell. I like a good challenge. I have some thoughts for others going to talk to their local Shacks.
1. Take pictures of the new packages.
2. Take a project or two to show.
3. Make up a sheet with all the cool website addresses for Parallax and note the many available resources especially the free training resources.
When I mentioned this I got his attention with a favorable response. It may take a little effort, but as Matt has noted it will be well worth it to us all.
@Microcontrolled
You don't need to "find that part, you can make your own! A piece of diffused rubber tubing or a glass tube, a couple of white LEDs, resistors, some hot glue, and some paint (optional).
Comments
Maybe just me so I will post what I am thinking for others to comment.
By calling it the Multicore Programming Board it gives the impression to
someone who is completely new to Parallax Products that you need this
to program the chips, like a pic programmer.
Granted you need some sort of experimenter's protoboard to get started
so I think a better name would be something along the lines of QuickStart
Experiment board or Project Board
Just a thought I had when I viewed the image, unless I missed something and it
is a Programming Board
Tom
Ken Gracey
-Tor
I'm with you Matt. I will stop by my radio shacks that I know of in Central Illinois and help introduce them to Parallax and the wonder sources for info and help. I'll even take some of my robots and demo them for them.
I wonder if a pad of small info sheets could be hung with the products listing website address, the many free sources available, and pictures of completed projects using the items being sold etc. to help people visualize what can be done or remind of ideas they might have once had.
I've wanted to start an electronics club in our town for some time. This could be the perfect time!
Very glad to have GREAT Parallax products so close and available!
Tony
I will!
THAT is a very difficult thing to do. Think of *who* might look at a product for the first time, then think of a name to give the product which will explain what that product does! And also be limited to the small space on the package.
Glad I don't have that job!
I suppose you could take "test packages" out on the street and ask random people what the thing is? (A street in front of a school of electrical engineering would be cheating!)
I am interested in the altimeter. Can you divulge any information on this module yet? Will it be a Radio Shack specific product?
@Parallax
Will there be a guaranteed stock in Corporate run stores versus franchises? Is there any talk about any weekly/monthly local store meetups of hobbyists run by the Corporate stores?
I knew Radio Shack was getting somewhat back into hobbyist market when I noticed the Forrest Mimms books showing up quite a few months ago.
RonP WTG!
Tony B said... OBC said... You are as usual!
Piguy101 said... Exactly - me too! But there was a time when I had that "blank stare" too. It's was only after someone took the time to "show me the world", that I able to catch the vision of "what I CAN DO".
Even if we only touch the minds of 10% of the RS guys - that's still hundreds of store affected in a positive way - RS makes more sales, newbies are born, our industry grows, more new products are developed, and we all benefit from increased ingenuity and market size.
C'mon, who else is with me!
-Matt
Do you have a similar plan for the Canadian market? We don't have Radio Shack stores.
-Tor
Hey Bob, who's the leading electronic retailer in Canada? Let us know your preference and we'll put the product into their stores.
Thanks!
There's Future Shop, but I think that's more like a Best Buy than a Radio Shack (not surprising because I'm pretty sure Best Buy now owns them).
I like seeing the greater retail channel push, but I think the largest segment will still come from mail order. RobotShop is already a big Parallax reseller for Canada. Same with HVW Tech. Don't know how much volume they push, but I know one thing that might help is if there's an independent (non-parallax.com) site with project examples with code.
-- Gordon
I found the following on the internet, but it has a date of 1999. Might be out of date or could be current?
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/01248.html
Did I miss something? What is a 2x16 LCD _with speaker_? (see the second of Ken's photos). There's a speaker built into the LCD somehow?
Are there plans to somehow direct RS customers who buy this stuff over here to the forums? After all, quite a bit of the value of the Parallax products (over what you'd get from Mouser, for example, or even Sparkfun) is the support community.
The latest Rev. Serial LCDs now have a piezo-"speaker" -- helps in getting real (authentic) with the Ctrl-G thang.
People are very used to seeing slick finished products do amazing things but I'd bet that seeing something home made buzzing around in front of them would , psychologically speaking, push a whole different set of buttons.
I am making the hopeful assumption this is all endemic thinking to Ken and Radio Shack and the other stakeholders in this, but the way to generate interest is one or more of the following:
1. Small, inexpensive books sold at Radio Shack covering many projects you can do with the Parallax product (full source code can be online) -- I'm thinking books very much like Matt's Cookbooks;
2. A big push to create, promote, and exploit Parallax-inspired projects on the Radio Shack's DIY site;
3. Working with authors and contributors to let them know of the product mix available at Radio Shack, so when an article is written about so-and-such, they can say "Available at your local Radio Shack," instead of listing the usual online sources;
4. A publicly editable wiki or "playground," supported by Parallax but not officially connected with them, where people can post their projects. The site would be moderated to prevent abuse.
5. And this heretical suggestion: More examples, using other microcontrollers, for supporting Parallax modular product (gyro, FM module, altimeter, whatever). This simply increases the population of potential customers.
For my part, I'm trying to develop additional examples of Parallax's modular products, and have these published in print or on the Web. But it's slow-going because the current examples and datasheets are centered toward the BS2/Prop. Okay, that makes sense, and I understand why things are this way. But it takes more work to find tidbits like the I2C address. It's in the program demos, in one form or another, but not in the datasheet (I've run into two so far that are this way, the FM Module and the OFN module). These are GREAT products at a TERIFFIC pricepoint, but the datasheet/example problem pretty much locks these out to the average DIYer if their school, Scout den, robotics club, or whatever has settled on another MCU for their projects.
IMO, embracing these other controllers is the key to making all this work. This isn't saying anything about the functionality of BS2 or Prop, but is merely a recognition of the current market.
-- Gordon
I don't know, that exactly what got me hooked on microcontrollers. I had been dabbling in electronics for a few year,s, but didn't know microcontrollers existed until I saw Parallax's Boe bot at RadioShack. I was instantly hooked before I even knew what they did.
I'd say about half of smartphone users know that a "tilt sensor" is called an "accelerometer", so when they see an "accelerometer module" in their local RadioShack, they would probably think "Hey, there is something I can buy that will let me measure tilt the same way my smartphone does? That's cool! I can think of a good use for that..." and then they would look at the other modules, probably finding the "Programming module" that would make it all happen.
@Microcontrolled Is that a xenon lamp for the "C" in you avatar?
@Microcontrolled
You don't need to "find that part, you can make your own! A piece of diffused rubber tubing or a glass tube, a couple of white LEDs, resistors, some hot glue, and some paint (optional).
-Phil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_placement
At the following link, select Category: Electronics, then click on Search. This will give you a list of product placement agencies for that category.
Entertainment Resources and Marketing Association (ERMA)...
http://www.erma.org
1. Take pictures of the new packages.
2. Take a project or two to show.
3. Make up a sheet with all the cool website addresses for Parallax and note the many available resources especially the free training resources.
When I mentioned this I got his attention with a favorable response. It may take a little effort, but as Matt has noted it will be well worth it to us all.
Tony