[GRLUG] another Raspberry Pi article

[Bob Kline]

On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 9:32 AM, Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 9:18 AM, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 8:51 AM, Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 8:34 AM, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > Re $25 and $35, and earlier item here
> >> > said there are two versions - the differences
> >> > escape me just now.
> >> >
> >> > Just playing devil's advocate, I'll ask
> >> > where's the beef?  By the time you hang
> >> > enough stuff on the board to do anything
> >> > with it there won't be any cost saving to
> >> > speak of.  One can get any number of
> >> > great motherboards for under $100 today.
> >> >
> >> > Just asking.....
> >>
> >> Personally, I think the Raspberry Pi is way, way overhyped, but it
> >> does sound like a nice little board.
> >>
> >> The beef is:
> >>
> >> 1) It's very cheap for what it does.
> >> 2) It's special-purpose. The feature set suggests it's designed to
> >> make a quick, easy, hobbyist's HTPC. Hardware decoding of h.264 will
> >> make that seamless.
> >> 3) It's ARM-based, which means its performance-per-watt is going to
> >> kick any x86-based competitor to the nearest Freecycle group. Low
> >> power consumption is something you really, really want in an HTPC.
> >> 4) As a combination of (2) and (3), it's very small.
> >> (5) At $35, nobody's going to complain too much when technology shifts
> >> and the demands of an HTPC outgrow it. It's nearly disposable.
> >>
> >
> > That should all work just fine for hobbyists.
> > There are clearly all shades of gray of hardware
> > out there, going from embedded setups to
> > conventional motherboards.  Years ago I used
> > to wire-wrap prototype boards.
> >
> > I think some of the virtues above might be
> > fine for production boards - e.g., power
> > consumption - but even for a hobbyist the
> > cost savings overall will be in the noise compared
> > to the time involved.
>
> That's why they're call them hobbyists; the time is spent having fun.
>
> > It is cheap as custom boards go.
>
> It's not a custom board, it's designed for a particular market. (That
> happens to be reasonably large)
>
>

Re hobbyists, yowzer.  It's what some
hope their workplace will be like, but for most
it won't.  Retired people who have hobbies
get it all - except energy and stamina...

Re custom, that's a tricky call. But not
worth a long thread....

   -- Bob

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