While that's quite likely, my problem over the years, and I sometimes use as many as a couple of dozen ev-boards in a proof-of-concept, which is the mainstay of my business, has been that the "examples" don't work at all.


This is seldom a problem caused by the hardware, but, more often, the high-level code used to "do the deed." If it were written in thoroughly documented ASM, it would be no problem to use it. Even in thoroughly documented HLL, it would be useable, but, instead, it's provided as a broken executable.


I'd want power and ground planes poured throughout opposite sides of the "breadboard area" with plated-through holes to which one could solder and safely/nondestructively desolder, AND dimensions to fit standard ribbon cable connectors, e.g. 2x25, 2x20, 2x17, 2x13, etc. Often I've had a prototype area that was just one or two holes short of being useful, yet had plenty of room for the misisng holes, which I then had to have drilled.


EVK makers seldom think about what people are going to do with their product. They simply want to sell as many as possible to the supporting IC vendor. The IC vendor doesn't care what they're used for either, so long as people take a look at their product. They don't realize that people willing to spend $100 on their EVK might want to be able to do useful work with the EVK. After all, I don't care what the IC is, if it will do my job.

Of course, there's also the obsolescence problem. Once the EVK is in the supply chain, the support quickly (often within 90 days) dies off.

RE