I do sympathise with arduino.cc, it seems a collection of true engineers (arduino.cc) with a massive passion for the community are being screwed over by more shrewd commercial minds - they don't seem sure quite how to deal with it.
Allow me to disagree with a stark example: There is a world of difference re: enthusiasm for the product and the community between Arduino.cc and PJRC.com. When was the last time that a demi-god from the C-suite at Arduino.cc regularly participated in the forums? I found it hilarious that the one time Massimo Banzi appeared in the forums was to chastise me for mentioning Teensy as a viable alternative to Due. As if not mentioning Teensy was going to change the fact that the Due was a dog of a product, released haphazardly after Teensy forced Arduino's hand.
My impression is that Arduino.cc is largely filled with people who are mostly insulated from the masses that use the product, which is an ongoing issue. User feedback re: issues has always been slow to get addressed to the organization, unlike the way it does here. When we find a bug, Paul usually addresses it in days. Heck, he's fixed a whole bunch of bugs for Arduino too.
Quite simply, would not have this discussion if the Arduino team actually focused on its product. Instead, they have largely coasted on on their own coat tails for several years after making it big. Paul states that there are many changes afoot that are for the good of the organization. I hope that trend continues because if Arduino.cc can keep accelerating away from Arduino.org then the latter will simply shrivel up and go away.
But, an organization with a laser focus on success would do things differently. It would not allow the current Arduino IDE with its bevy of issues to fester as long as it has. Customers must have a compelling reason to use your products - Paul has released more products per capita at PJRC.com than Arduino, provides amazing tech support, and does a lot of software development too (both for Teensy and the greater Arduino community).
Paul has stated over and over that he doesn't see himself as a competitor to Arduino... and I agree... to a point. I'd make the argument that Arduino.cc traditionally made little to no effort to compete in the first place. The forums are run by volunteers, most important board / library innovations come from the outside, and product development has been slow for an organization its size. I don't think I'd call the Arduino organization competitive, it's behavior is reminiscent of a lifestyle business.
That said, they continue to be successful because their initial product is a great platform for learning the basics of MCU programming and so on. I wish them the best of success, especially now that they seem to be signing up so many commercial partners that library support for all these platforms is going to become a major issue. The glimpses that Massimo gave the crowds at the Maker Faire certainly seemed to be a step in the right direction and I hope that they manage to change quickly enough to keep up with all these additions. The old Arduino.cc organization certainly could not.
Imagine how frustrating it must be for a number of their competitors to enter the market and not find the success they were hoping for, on the basis that the above mismanagement on the part of Arduino would be sufficient to allow a 'better' organization to walk away with the market. Digilent, Maple, etc. have all tried... and failed.
