[galewind]

Of all things, FIRST needs to make sure that whatever system they go with, that they have support that is at least as good as or better than IFI's. Even though they're a small operation, and there have been failures in some hardware from time to time (statistics states that it's bound to happen with any type of hardware, though), they have ALWAYS been there to support teams and events. From having loaner hardware to excellent phone support to being there to fix the fields, IFI has always gone the extra mile to make sure that things run smoothly, and to help teams feel that they're valuable.

It's almost as though IFI is just a different style of FIRST team.

If FIRST chooses a different controller system, the only thing I can pray for is that the support they give is better than that of IFI, and that's going to be darn hard to beat.