I think the parent has a point as the author makes a big deal of how this hardware supports their remote work.
It’s clear to me oxide are having fun, and while you could do some of this in software, you clearly couldn’t do that without some hardware. Could they have purchased the hardware instead? Probably. Would it have been as cost-effective or fun? Probably not cost effective, without shifting their staffing. Does anyone have fun purchasing OTS development hardware? You’re just gambling on what systems and complexity in their own stuff they’ve really tested.
Changing staffing is hard, expensive and painful. Repurposing apparently excess hardware development folks to fill the gap here is interesting, not the way hardware is “usually done” and seems to be working.
It’s clear to me oxide are having fun, and while you could do some of this in software, you clearly couldn’t do that without some hardware. Could they have purchased the hardware instead? Probably. Would it have been as cost-effective or fun? Probably not cost effective, without shifting their staffing. Does anyone have fun purchasing OTS development hardware? You’re just gambling on what systems and complexity in their own stuff they’ve really tested.
Changing staffing is hard, expensive and painful. Repurposing apparently excess hardware development folks to fill the gap here is interesting, not the way hardware is “usually done” and seems to be working.