Wakefield Acorn & RISC OS Computer Show 2017

As we’re sure most of you already know, R-Comp and RCI will be exhibiting
at the Wakefield Show again this year. What can you expect to find on the
stand this year?

Software
=-=-=-=-

We’ll have the usual array of R-Comp and RCI software, with recent/show
releases including Genealogy 1.80, Fireworkz 2.20 (bring your old disc and
a fiver!), NetFetch 4.1x and so on. You can also check out the latest
updates to SafeStore 2 (2.12) and more.

We’ll also have Graphical Linux for Titanium boards, which allows
TiMachines and Titanium boards to run a friendly, visual, Linux
implementation complete with a range of desktop applications including
popular web browsers, office applications and audio/media software.

PiFi v2 – You may already be familiar with our PiFi product which turns
your old Raspberry Pis into RISC OS-friendly wifi adapters/access-points.
We’re working hard to create v2 of the software, designed with new Pi3 and
Pi-Zero-Wifi units in mind (which have on-board wifi), but backwards
compatible with older versions. PiFi v2 offers a sexier front end (still
RISC OS friendly) showing graphs of signal strength etc, but more
significantly introduces a new API which allows us to control it directly
from your RISC OS desktop. That’s right – instead of needing a browser to
configure it, you’ll have a RISC OS Wifi application to pick your wifi
settings straight from your iconbar. Not only this, but PiFi v2 expands
the capabilities of PiFi in much the same way that UniPrint expands what a
RISC OS+Windows combination can do… a pretty exciting product!

R-Comp Bundle CD – available to customers of our computer systems, this
bundle offers a huge range of R-Comp software (I think about 250-300ukp at
last count, but I could be a bit off) for a very low price. For roughly
the cost of one of the programs on the disc, you get a huge range of
full-version programs to accompany your computer. If you haven’t already
taken advantage of this, don’t miss out!

Computers
=-=-=-=-=

Our current portfolio of RISC OS computers will be on display – RISCubes,
RISCBooks, ARMX6s and TiMachines. The latest news about each is shown
below…

RISCubes – now featuring the latest generation of CPUs, we’re seeing huge
performance benefits in the latest models. RISCubes can now drive
monitors up to 4k screen resolution, and/or multiple monitors, with
staggering performance. Latest USB3/3.1 is available, and support for old
and new operating systems. Tests running DataPower 3 for a customer
showed astonishing boosts in performance (massively outpacing even the
TiMachine), so if you’re looking for an “all-in-one” solution, come and
talk to us about these latest models.

RISCBooks – whilst we continue to sell more traditional RISCBook form
factors (typically 15.6" dispays), our RISCBook Go! launched last year has
proven to be a winning combination. A smaller, lighter, more portable
system, the RISCBook Go! offers the latest wifi compatibility, and enough
performance to run your favourite applications, with long battery life and
silent operation.

ARMX6s – we’re hoping to have a new OS update for customers in time for
the show with a number of improvements. Most noticeably, automatic
monitor detection (EDID) has been implemented in a more friendly way, and
can now be enabled by default via the usual monitor configuration plugin.
This supports up to 4k resolution via auto-detection, complete with HDMI
audio. Other recent innovations include the TurboLAN network upgrade (up
to ten times faster network performance), and disc partition support.

TiMachine – Our TiMachine systems offer the ultimate in performance, with
great flexibility. As mentioned above, we have recently updated the
Graphical Linux option which allows you to use both RISC OS and Linux on
the same computer. Enjoy the computer with multiple drives, and a range
of compatible monitors.

Hardware
=-=-=-=-

RAID for RISC OS – this product, launched at the SW show earlier this
year, provides multi-disc “RAID mirroring” for RISC OS systems. Whilst
this can also be done via NAS (Network Storage) units, not all customers
feel comfortable with that, so our RAID product makes it more “personal” –
just plug in the drives and off you go! RAID mirroring protects your data
against drive failure by ensuring it is written to multiple discs at the
same time. Should a drive fail, your data is still available. We use
specially designed drives in this configuration, to ensure everything
works beautifully.

Monitors – you’ll be able to see (and purchase) a range of lovely displays
to match your choice of RISC OS computer. From “smaller” 23"/24" displays
up through lovely 27" high resolution panels, to the drool-inducing 34"
super-wide displays, we’ve got you covered at competitive prices :)

Networking and Storage – we specialise in networking products, as many of
you know, and have long recommended network-attached-storage for sharing
files, data, photos and music between your computers and around your home.
If you’re looking to upgrade your infrastructure, and perhaps make more
use of modern TV equipment (view your photos on your TV, or listen to
music in your living room), why not have a chat with us about the
possibilities?

Pre-owned units
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Can’t afford/justify one of our full price units? We have a few pre-owned
RISCubes and other machines (eg. Iyonixes) which are still excellent
computers which we can refurbish for you. These are installed and
configured just like brand new machines, so the experience is the same,
but the price is lower. Why not ask if you’re interested?

Examples include a couple of quad-core RISCubes (really!) and at least one
“fully loaded” Iyonix.

RISC OS Developments Ltd
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If all that wasn’t enough for you, the Wakefield show will be the event
where we unveil our new joint venture (with Richard Brown of Orpheus and
others) – RISC OS Developments Ltd. A massive project for the benefit of
all modern RISC OS users, this exciting new venture is our commitment to
the future of our beloved platform/operating system.

Exciting times – see you at the show! :)

Late notice, but anyone up for a cab share from Wakefield Westgate station? I’ll be arriving on the train from London about 10:10.

A massive project for the benefit of all modern RISC OS users

Any news yet? :-)

Any news yet? :-)

No, there isn’t. For the RISC OS Developments announcement, if you signed an NDA at Wakefield today you’ll be given some info about some thing in future. Currently it’s vapourware.

Also the separate ‘epic’ announcement from ROOL, or more precisely e’Pi’c, is just RC15 and NutPi on the same SD card for 2 quid cheaper than you can buy them separately.

Underwhelming is an understatement.

So the hype about unveiling a new massive project was all about an NDA? So RISC OS. ;-)

For the RISC OS Developments announcement, if you signed an NDA at Wakefield today

Seriously?

Wasn’t the quote the Wakefield show will be the event where we unveil our new joint venture? Unveil != NDA.

Desk → Head → Desk → Head → Desk → Head…

So the hype about unveiling a new massive project was all about an NDA?

Perhaps they are seeking funding to finish Oregano 3 but a non disclosure sounds like it’s a long way off yet

So the hype about unveiling a new massive project was all about an NDA?

Well! As DB noted, “So RISC OS” (I would have inserted an Rh positive expletive). (My blood is Rh positive).

I’ve been getting quite excited this evening waiting for the massive bit of news promised, and that’s all it is, a (Rh. NDA).

I sometimes wonder why we bother… (Don’t answer, I already know why we continue to hang around in this small corner of the Twilight Zone…)

If it was April the 1st I could be forgiving, but really…

Dave

Sigh.

I didn’t actually hear what was said, as I was exhibiting, but those I spoke to afterwards at the show gave a rather different perspective to Peter and Rick (the latter of whom wasn’t even there, AFAIK).

There appears to be a new scheme afoot to fund developments in a way that might make it possible for developers to put more time into projects that currently aren’t getting done. At present there are no products or projects to announce publicly, precisely to avoid pre-announcing vapourware. Instead, it sounds as if they’re looking for possible developers who might be interested in getting involved, to discuss the ideas and what’s feasible in practical terms. Depending on what is being considered, NDAs might be useful things to have in place.

The idea as it was explained to me by less cynical third parties seems to be to do the work and then announce it. I can’t help but think that, given the many false promises in the past, that seems quite sensible…

It’s much more fun to knock stuff, however – especially if you weren’t there in person to hear it (Dave S and Rick).

It’s much more fun to knock stuff, however – especially if you weren’t there in person to hear it (Dave S and Rick).

Many years of past experiences with the RO universe make a fellow very cynical… And I mean VERY.
I really was hoping for something positive for a change, but I see no change…

But despite all that, and after 35 years of it… this RO using junkie is still here. :-)

It’s much more fun to knock stuff, however – especially if you weren’t there in person to hear it (Dave S and Rick).

Well, it’s nice that you have posted a longer explanation of what the announcement is, and yes – it does seem more logical not to announce stuff that doesn’t exist yet.

I was, however, replying based upon what was previously said – given that there was, you know… no live stream, very little on-the-go information, no live blog that I have seen, and it seems ROOL’s last tweet was in October 2015!

and Rick (the latter of whom wasn’t even there, AFAIK).

Indeed I wasn’t. I was around 680km away, in a different country no less. My source of information? What you’re reading…

I really was hoping for something positive for a change, but I see no change…

I hope the new idea attracts some interest… but I can’t help but look at https://www.riscosopen.org/bounty/

There appears to be a new scheme afoot to fund developments in a way that might make it possible for developers to put more time into projects that currently aren’t getting done.

Well, either that information wasn’t subject to an NDA (in which case other people not revealing is a bit daft) or it is covered by an NDA that was broken when (or before) you heard the info.

At present there are no products or projects to announce publicly, precisely to avoid pre-announcing vapourware.

NDA on projects, fine. NDA on the scheme fostering the projects, bit daft.
Oh well at least I didn’t miss anything by being stuck close to work.

iconbar.com has a show report and pictures from the show…

http://iconbar.com/articles/Wakefield_2017_Show_Report/index1354.html

http://iconbar.com/articles/Wakefield_2017_show_in_pIctures/index1353.html

Well the further bits on the story are that they already have their milestone one funding and the first project plans are being finalised. The NDA is so the full investment /project details can be discussed and gives individuals time to contemplate both finalising commitments and input in to priorities/plans.

They have plans to extend beyond the first project and also to have further funding commitments.

Timescales are circa 6 – 12 months on the first project subject to confirmation when they announce it on a formal basis.

Initially any further funding commitments from people will be in exchange for B shares in the company and 3 A sharse are also already taken by the directors and only A shares have voting rights.

By putting money in you will get B shares but the starting point is circa £1K plus at this stage though future involvement may be via smaller purchases of shares or other funding means.

The reason to do it this was explained that it meant someone putting funds in was not totally exposed as any losses could be tax efficent unlike previous vapourware projects.

All of this was discussed in the theatre presentations by RISC OS Developments Ltd and RComp so not part of the NDA.

Now you can debate why do it this way , and part of that may be to see what the funding pot could be from the community/priorities, and as to the correct time to make things public but it is a chicken/egg situation and this way at least gives some opportunity to move forward which may have parallels with the initial setting up of RISCOS Ltd and early development stages that they did. It also means by doing it at a show they get maximum coverage of people and therefore a better chance others will sign up with commitments rather than just making CSSA/RISCOS community announcements.

Given the people involved I’m sure that they don’t want to set to many unrealistic expectations and hence NDA’s etc and they do have a track record of delivering things but as ever there is always an element of risk.

I see this a positive step abet the sooner more information is available the better as it will silence any critics and is in effect perhaps a RISCOS version of crowdsourcing which will hopefully have a better record than some of those schemes.

At least something is being tried to get round the impasse of development from largely low level funding and on more commercial rates which may attract some developers to do this on a more substaintial timewise basis as it is then not s decision between making money or doing everything for fun.

Wasn’t the quote the Wakefield show will be the event where we unveil our new joint venture? Unveil != NDA.

I must point out that the new venture was indeed unveiled. What the NDA covers is not the joint venture itself, but rather what the joint venture intends to do.

Not the same things.

Ex-RISC OS-but-still-interested-user here: I spent half the day refreshing sites and checking Twitter, trying to find out what on earth the fuss was about. What an odd way to go about things. I guess if you signed the NDA and have more information, it may make sense to you but from the outside, well, as was said above, it’s just “so RISC OS”.

Another odd thing: according to Iconbar, ROOL weren’t party to the plans though. What on earth?

By the way, wasn’t RISC OS Developments Ltd, the same name that RISC OS Ltd was supposed to change to, many years ago, after some agreement?

On a more positive note, the couple of people I have read any comment from, who have signed the NDA and have more information, appear to be very excited. I hope all makes sense in time.

I really was hoping for something positive for a change, but I see no change…

In what way is the announcement of a large investment in RISC OS software development not positive?

The only thing “so RISC OS” about this is people who know nothing whingeing for no reason. Great way to encourage those actually trying to get stuff done. Well done.

sigh

iconbar.com has a show report and pictures from the show…

Are you missing a </TD> or something? On Android, with both stock browser and Firefox, everything is squished into the left hand side.

The only thing “so RISC OS” about this is people who know nothing whingeing for no reason.

+1

The only thing “so RISC OS” about this is people who know nothing whingeing for no reason. Great way to encourage those actually trying to get stuff done. Well done.

I can only speak for myself and the impressions I get but I think the announcement has been badly handled.
The information on Iconbar is more like the proper delivery should have been.

My disappointment is not in the scheme/project, in fact that’s a damned good idea if it’s going to benefit all and push development forward, no my disappointment is in the PR end which has been a spectacular “so RISC OS” event.

People need to understand that an honest assessment will always point out both positive and negative aspects. Pointing out the negative as well is intended to help people improve the whole package on their next run through. Call me a whinger if you wish to ignore the bits that need improvement, but if you do you’re deluding yourselves.

I spent half the day refreshing sites and checking Twitter, trying to find out what on earth the fuss was about. What an odd way to go about things. I guess if you signed the NDA and have more information, it may make sense to you but from the outside, well, as was said above, it’s just “so RISC OS”.

Reports from people in the Show Theatre yesterday, including the Iconbar’s report, seem pretty clear and positive. There was nothing pre-announced¹, so for more, you’ll need to wait until Richard and Andrew are back at work.

Going by the Iconbar report, the whole thing seems to have been pulled together since the Southwest Show in late February; the Wakefield booking for RISC OS Developments was placed with WROCC very late, and we were advised that things had only just come together in time for it to be placed. Given that timescale of just over a month, there probably isn’t much more that can be said at present beyond what seems to have been reported in the Show Theatre.

Another odd thing: according to Iconbar, ROOL weren’t party to the plans though. What on earth?

Why should they be? We don’t know yet what the projects are to be, because they – and not the scheme itself – are under NDA for what seem to be good reasons. Unless they’re planning to work on the OS itself, then ROOL wouldn’t be involved. There’s a vast set of things that ROOL won’t touch with Bounties, precisely because they’re none of ROOL’s business.

Are you – and others – possibly confusing two unrelated announcements? ROOL had a tongue-in-cheek one about something “of Epic proportions”, which was totally unrelated to the RISC OS Developments one as far as I can see.

By the way, wasn’t RISC OS Developments Ltd, the same name that RISC OS Ltd was supposed to change to, many years ago, after some agreement?

Possibly. It’s not that relevant, I suspect, and Companies House looks to have no record of the previous one – suggesting that it never happened anyway.

On a more positive note, the couple of people I have read any comment from, who have signed the NDA and have more information, appear to be very excited. I hope all makes sense in time.

I’ve not yet seen anyone claiming to have signed an NDA: all the positive comments that I’ve seen thus far appear to have been from people who were in the Show Theatre yesterday (plus those like me who spoke to people who were).

¹ Because otherwise, why bother with the show talk at all?

For those who weren’t there, I will upload the video of Richard’s talk later today (but bear in mind I have a very long drive home and I’ll want to just sit down and relax for a while first!).

I won’t do much editing – just trim the start and end (before/after) he started talking, add the usual title page(s), and possibly subtitles for the questions from the audience. Other than that, what you’ll get is the raw footage, including the customary sides/backs of people’s heads when they walk/stand in front of the camera.

It’s not that relevant, I suspect, and Companies House looks to have no record of the previous one – suggesting that it never happened anyway.

Now that is “so ROL” and probably the origin of the massive caution people have about announcing early.

On the PR note, does anyone know someone who could advise/train people to do things more smoothly. Something for RODL to sort out that may not cost anything.

It was not my intention to disparage anything RISC OS, and I doubt anybody else would want to have a repeat of the Phoebe bashing of old.

I think the “lesson to learn” here is that PR wasn’t. So let me put an idea out there. Why was there no web page outlining the idea and how it works? It could be created before the show and set to be non served (owner read only), then after the announcement it could have permissions tweaked to be served. This isn’t complicated you know, it’s 2017 so making only a personal presentation to a specific group of visitors, you’ll have to just accept misunderstandings and the like if you’re relying upon word of mouth until proper info turns up at some undefined date in the future.
Remember, this wasn’t just any normal show, this was a show in which Big Things were promised. It’s entirely logical that those who could not attend would want to know…. What?

Just to be clear, the reason for no formal announcement is precisely to avoid vapourware claims. If you notice, I rarely announce any product that isn’t ready or close to it (esp in recent times) because I think everyone has been burned too many times in the past.

However, we felt that people would want to know that significant investment is happening, because it is a long time since anything on this scale has been possible, and the results should benefit everyone. That investment isn’t vapour and therefore worth talking about. As several people asked, what do R-Comp and Orpheus get out of it? The primary goal is to move things forwards so that the RISC OS scene continues to get healthier, and we’re all still in business in the future.

I can’t help thinking about when we prised RISC OS iteslf from the crashing remains of Acorn back in ‘98, many folks were talking about whether there would still be a RISC OS scene in 5, let alone 10 years. There was a lot of talk about “exit strategies” because people felt that there would be no market at all in a handful of years. I recall hoping that another 10 years would be possible, and just wanting RISC OS to continue and succeed (you might have noticed how much I love it!). It’s always hard to predict the future – it was doubly difficult back then.

A lot has happened in the following 20 years, but here we all are, still RISC OS-ing away – who would have thought? There’s been a lot of heroes in those in-between years – some well known, some less so. There are many ways to contribute to RISC OS, and investment is only one of them. It is, however, one big way that we hope to be able to grow the RISC OS scene so that we’re all still here in the future (and hopefully with a fair few new faces too). I may be being stupidly optimistic, who knows, but here’s to the next 20! :)

As for the name – that’s my fault I suspect. We checked at Companies House for available names, and that name seemed to reflect the purpose of the company particularly well. I wasn’t aware (or more likely had forgotten) of any other prior claimant – certainly John (Castle) didn’t mention anything when we’ve talked. The closest I can think of was a long-defunct Beebug software-brand (which was different anyway), which I think is probably part of our portfolio anyway (hence things like RISC User in a Nutshell and other Beebug-related products). So, basically, don’t get hung up on the name – I just tend to like names which are fairly clear about what they are.