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Re: TI and future Jaguars
World was fun! Must have walked several miles back and forth between the arena and the pits – really unnecessary people flow problems created by the staff.
I talked to TI at the event. Basically they want out f the Jag business due to its lack of business. The are donating everything except their silicon (Stellaris and a few other chips on-board). They are aware of current issues but clearly have no motivation to fix anything.
They also don't see who would want this business with the exception of the manufacturer if Victors whom they think/hope will bid on the RFP. They did not think an open-source program would have the industrial strength to be successful in the long run.
They have some Jaguars in stock, but they didn't think it was enough to carry FIRST through the next season.
I do think the the Victor manufacturer makes most sense to take this and produce a super-vic a fusion of a Vic & Jag. However from a business perspective I do not see them doing it with any resulting benefit to FIRST. As all business people know, if you have a monopoly you jack up the prices and stop further innovation... If you take the current Vic and just add the Stellaris processor to it their margins will take a hit.
At the end of the day for a successful solution we need a product that has other markets than the 2000 teams at FRC. The Vic is the only contender at this time.
This is just sad.
Dean
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