Do you ever worry about the folks at Parallax?
rjo__
Posts: 2,114
I do. I wonder... how long can they do this? The track record of this company is nothing short of phenomenal.
But it is a lot of work. Will they hit the proverbial wall?
Are they getting enough rest and recreation?
Do they see their mother-in-laws enough?
I've been following the forum long enough that I can almost sense when everyone is hunkered down and pushing
to the max. This seems to be one of those times:)
But it is a lot of work. Will they hit the proverbial wall?
Are they getting enough rest and recreation?
Do they see their mother-in-laws enough?
I've been following the forum long enough that I can almost sense when everyone is hunkered down and pushing
to the max. This seems to be one of those times:)
Comments
If there's a dark spot it's probably the tone of seriousness deemed necessary for Parallax Semiconductor to seem like a legit player in the CPU manufacturing field. That's only going to bother a few people though and those folks will probably work it off playing with ELEV-8's in spare time :-)
I've been doing my gig for the same company for almost 30 years and it's largely because, while what I do makes money for my boss, I also find doing it a blast. I think you would find most of the people at Parallax have a similar attitude. I suspect that for many Parallax employees it is a dream job where they get paid for playing around with stuff they'd do in their garage on the weekend anyway if they weren't getting paid for it. When you're in that situation burnout isn't much of a factor, because you're feeding, not draining, your reserves by doing your job.
Erlend
Parallax has done a lot and made digital electronics a lot of fun, especially by producing the Propeller.
At times, I worry that they are having to 'bet the farm' on the Propeller2 in a very fast moving industry that has more capacity and options than real customers at this point.
If Parallax were to capitulate for the sake of preserving their gain and not release the Propeller2, I would be very understanding.
Of course, if they release the Propeller2, I will buy a few. But the truth is that selling chips directly in small quantities is never going to achieve the kind of growth that many of us dream of.... even with leading the industry in excellence in support for hobbyist.
Everyone these days is talking about the consumer's participation in the economy. I sense something basically wrong with the term 'consumer'. It has some presumptions that the people that buy products are less intelligent, more impulsive, easy to exploit and manipulate. And I think this point of view is beginning to fall apart.
I am very old school. You make a business survive and grow via satisfied customers; not gambling for the next 'big hit' of consumerism.
Best of luck and best wishes to Parallax, whatever path they follow. I just happen to be one of the satisfied customers.
Yes. I have always hated the term "consumer". No mater how it's used it's just insulting. I can see how it came to general use form the simple ideas in economics or such that factories and farms "produce" and somebody out there "consumes".
But whatever happened to the word "customer". We even get this nonsense from wikipedia now a days "A customer purchases goods; a consumer uses them"
which does not sound like my old understanding of the word customer as seen in normal dictionaries: "a person who buys goods or services from a shop or business"
Back in the day the customer was the one you had to please and satisfy, after all he is paying. As they used to say "The customer is always right". A "consumer" on the other hand is just that, consuming is his function in life.
See how that little (I think large) shift in meaning changes the whole relation ship between buyers and sellers? In the "customer" case the seller has to produce the best product or service for the best price and deliver it nicely. In "consumer" case products can be made as shoddily as you can get away with and thrown out the door as the consume will consume anyway, that's what they do.
Perhaps that's why everything is so Smile now a days. Products are designed to last five minutes, if they work at all, and service is becoming non-existent.
Luckily, a few companies. And Parallax is a great example, still have "customers".
I would be happy to be a "customer" when I buy a railway ticket. After all I'm not really a "passenger" until I actually get on the train.
You do realize, Loopy, that you are now taking my stance with regard the changes in language as time goes by.
"The effect whereby the position or direction of an object appears to differ when viewed from different positions."
The products and service they provide are amazing to hobby consumers, educational consumers, and corporate consumers. The Propeller itself is so flexible in it's application that it is well suited in all of these environments for a variety of purposes.
Sometimes it's hard to track the direction of Parallax given their foot is located in so many doors, but they definitely are a unique and quality outfit.
Ken and company are just as comfortable flying quad-copters as they are working with corporate suits. (Ok, maybe they would rather fly quad copters. a little more.
Jeff
Well, I'd hate to say that I actually agreed with you. After all, you are Heater. If we were to actually get along, there would be a lot less amusement for others.
I disagree:) We get along just fine. We might not agree much but we get along just fine. We would have a great time over a Chinese meal and a couple of beers.
You will have to drink both the beers. June 7th will begin my 30th year without alcoholic beverages.
Do I get to eat your meal since you took my beer?
I am getting old. These days, no sugar, no butter, a very little of most of the other things. My prime addiction is low-fat lattes.
...as for the Heater/Loopy dinner, I'd like to watch that dinner/debate evolve through the evening!
AMEN!
Besides, after such a large investment of time and money, it wouldn't make sense to stop (P2 development) right now. I think Loopy tends toward pessimism. I think I'd be far more loopy than Loopy if I were in his situation. Fortunately I have children that are constantly forcing me to optimism and activity. Just yesterday they compelled me to drive into the middle of a vast desert to rappel down a giant granite pluton, left behind after 40 million years of erosion of lesser rock surrounding it.
I strongly suspect you and all of us won't be disappointed. But I do have a gut feeling that Apple and MS may be running out of product ideas. Cisco has been sitting on a pile of cash without any new product for quite some time.
I don't know if you remember the Polaroid story, but one day Mr. Land just declared that he had invented everything he could think of and resigned. Biographic articles mention the failure of his instant video product, Polavision... but his message was much more about his inventions had reached the limits of their utility.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_H._Land
It just seems to me there are a lot of very big companies out their that are running on vapors and hoping 'The Consumers' will once again spend foolishly.
They don't seem to realize these are the same people that lost their homes, their jobs, and their futures. It reeks of a huge form of corporate delusion about their true role in the world economy.
Corporations should be providing the backbone of a stable economy, not the predatory capitalism. Innovation and creativity should be the arena where the 'little guy' makes good, not the big bully builds a 'big economic moat' out of 'pit bull lawyer' practises.
The main thing is that people should realize that Parallax is a small business by today's standards and is subject to the same tremendous pressures we all are. I just fear that 'big business' and 'big government' think they can run a vibrant economy without having the average guy prosper as well... especially the youth that are finding the future extremely murky.
I lived my passions for my first 35 or so years... they almost killed me.
crowning achievement. We just need to be patient, they are not going to put a new processor on the market until it is ready.
Wall? Wall? There's a Wall? Where's a Wall?
Never enough recreation...(now, re-creating, that's more like it...)
"Rest"? What does "Rest" mean? Somebody got a dictionary?
"I decline to answer the question on the grounds that I may incriminate myself...and make my life a living heck"
Sorry, don't have time to answer this question. we're "hunkered down and pushing to the max" right now ;-)
-MattG
The first Propeller was kept secret. It was just suddenly there. I think that Parallax learned that from Steve Jobs.
Creating a sequel is so much more awkward to do. You not only have to get it right, people keep wondering when.