> You're after a chip with wifi, that you can program using the arduino IDE, that has a programmer on it, and that has the pins broken out.
That would be an ESP8266... no? The ESP8266 is everything you just listed as a requirement - it literally checks every box you laid out. Now you just pick a board in the form factor you need for your project, and has any additional features you need/want.
> The D1 is by far the best ESP8266-based board I have seen so far.
You just said it again right there. The D1 just happens to be the packaging the ESP8266 is wrapped in.
> When I am buying, for instance, a bean (basically an arduino variant with a BLE radio on it), I am not buying an AVR
Except that you are! The bean is powered by an ATMega! The 328p to be exact!
> If tomorrow, wemos swapped that chip out for an identical one, people would STILL want the D1
Probably not, since any other chip is unlikely to have as much community support and integrate so seamlessly into existing arduino IDE's.
People don't want a wemos or D1, most people don't even know they exist! People want an arduino with wifi that doesn't cost $99 and isn't in a clunky shield form factor. They get that with an ESP8266 wrapped up in one of the hundred different board options, of which, the D1 is but one.
Heck, you can even get an ESP-01 (ESP8266 chip with only basic functionality exposed) for less than $2, and add wifi to an Arduino Uno, or any other device with serial capability.
> Bluntly: I spend about 100% of my time working from a hackerspace, and a good chunk of that time is spent teaching people to program microcontrollers
Perhaps you should spend some time teaching people about what they are really working with. They don't need an arduino to build their project, they need a microcontroller, and the ATmega328p happens to be very cheap, easy, and accessible for even complete beginners. You're kind of doing people a disservice by leaving the arduino as a magic black box.