Well, a few weeks ago, Mowcius said I should start lending out Arduinos on account of how many I have (5 Duemilanoves). I don't know if he was kidding or not, but I like the idea.
My issue is that some people are not all that honest. Also, some people are just new, and might break things... Here are the two situations laid out:
Someone steals one... I would be out about $30 total. I could do "deposits", but putting down $25 just to use an Arduino would turn the appeal down.
Someone breaks one... I would mainly be lending to n00bs, most likely. As we all know from our newbie days, noobs break things. I can't really use a broken Arduino. I guess they would have to replace it, but how do I make them?
You could make them sign in using Facebook Connect, and get 'personal' with them. You could have them pay a small deposit, which they get back when they return the Arduino (might want to keep some of it?).
Have a time limit for each user, enable the user to pass i on to his/hers friends (need to go through your site or system).
Open a wiki or blog with multiple users so the users can contribute to resource for learning experience and growing a knowledge base. Maybe best to use the Arduino forum.
If you feel like you need help developing, contact me
We could distribute this test on to the users. As a policy, "test before handing it on".
One could possibly ask a retailer if they were interesting in sponsoring some Arduinos in return of some branding associated with this service. ?
If I was a retailer, all the branding I'd be interested is in the one provided by green bills filling my pockets. Giving away free stuff isn't a common practice for successful businesses. But all the best luck to Jeremy with his idea. May he learn an useful lesson about basic economics.
I guess you've never heard of commercials before? Exchange of services? He promotes a certain retailer, and exposes the brand for many potential customers, in return he gets a few Arduinos to pass around (maybe the Arduino itself is branded with a url for the retailer etc etc).
How many do you think has to go buy an Arduino from said retailer before ROI can be acclaimed? I think the number is well within the range of what can be expected from such a project.
I think the lesson to be learned is that pockets do not fill themselves.
[edit]This was not intended as 'agressive' as it might seem. Read with a smile.[/edit]
remember the .com bubble? Who made money? Companies like Cisco, Intel, Sun, Dell and Microsoft who sold stuff to all those crazy start-ups. Those who were were lured by vague marketing and product endorsement promises from start-ups without substance just went down with them.
Now, if our dear Jeremy was Coca Cola, Microsoft or Google and wanted to do some Arduino based marketing, he might be of interest to a vendor for a cooperation. National Instruments did something of the sort with Lego Mindstorm parts. But the marketing value of a company with less than 100 customers (to be generous) is zero, nothing, inexistent. The only positive value such a company has for a vendor are the little green bills they hand over. It probably doesn't even generate enough sales to qualify for bulk discounts.
My mindset during this dialog has been 'around five Arduinos'. So when we start to talk about large enterprises, things get a bit out of scope for me. I was thinking along the lines of a fun PR stunt or a display of good-will towards our community.
This is not a money machine with an ingenious business plan for taking over the world. At least not economically.
I was thinking along the lines of a fun PR stunt or a display of good-will towards our community.
What community? A pampered 13-year old sitting in somewhere in the US suburbia isn't "the community". He even qualifies properly for charity.
What PR? One posting of "Wow I got a few Arduino donated" in a rather message board which quickly be relegated to page 5 isn't really PR. Answering one post per week about Products will yield far more positive PR.
What stunt? Nothing spectacular about sending out a few commodity items.
What fun? Offering special seasonal boards (Halloween, Christmas, 1st-April) or other cool items have a potential to be fun. Sponsoring some Arduino-related event or contest can be fun. But a rather poor business idea of someone with no idea about running a business isn't fun.
What good-will? The good-will that they sponsor one kid without real need and not sponsor all the others with more meritable causes. I would prefer the do something more useful with their marketing dollars than this.
I wonder what your gripe about a company being 'nice' is.
Yes, there are people that could use the kindness a lot more... there always are.
Even an 8yr old kid with some excruciatingly painful disease that has only a month to live.. even then, there is someone worse off.
Might be me, but I don't see the point of argueing that companies shouldn't ever do this. Let them decide for themselves... Let them decide or figure out whether it is a valid PR tool.
Even an 8yr old kid with some excruciatingly painful disease that has only a month to live.. even then, there is someone worse off.
OK so obviously we wouldn't want Arduinos going to waste because of that, what with the AVR shortage and all...so in cases where the new Arduino owner knows they're about to die, we can have them draw up an Arduino Will to pass the hardware on to some other person.
Joking aside, I don't see any point to lending this stuff out. It's a component, not a tool you use to complete a task like a lawnmower or paint sprayer.
But it is a tool! It's a tool for inspiration and education. It is an enabler.
Korman: We clearly have different views regarding this. For me, reaching out is the best manifestation of Public Relations. I think it is crucial for the definition itself. A Relation implies a doubly linked connection and dependency.
With your attitude I'm actually surprised to see you're still among us. The Arduino itself is a goofy idea with a 'poor' business idea. In fact, I don't think the business was a driving force at all.
No one in this thread has claimed this is a business endeavour. I see it more as an experiment.
If we get a site and a framework up and running, I'll donate ten Arduinos for this experiment. If more people join in we can actually achieve some sort of result. Be it good or bad, in a business context.
If we get a site and a framework up and running, I'll donate ten Arduinos for this experiment.
Dude, are you serious?! That's crazy! Do you own a company that sells them or something, because that's a lot of money...
Anyways, I am crap at making websites... I have never tried, but it seems hard. And I was thinking local only... Because shipping them around the USA / world would make it worthless... It would be to expensive. I was thinking someone shows up at my house, I take down there name, phone number, and email. Then they put down the damage / theft deposit. They bring it back a set time later, and I ask if they want to buy one. If they do want to, I grab one out of a little stock (like 5 in a desk droor or something), and sell it to them.
With your attitude I'm actually surprised to see you're still among us. The Arduino itself is a goofy idea with a 'poor' business idea. In fact, I don't think the business was a driving force at all.
I just believe in making a difference and don't like to see good efforts going to waste. If you want to help, make most of what you offer.
Yeah, thats what I do... Or, now just ordering the 328 and puts it in a breadboard, but when I need a full board, I just buy one...
I don't know how the shipping is where you want to do this, but here it would make no sense... Just shipping from you and back, would be almost the same as a uno...
