[GRLUG] another Raspberry Pi article

[John Wesorick]

I'm definitely going to get one and then hope they can get OpenELEC (
http://openelec.tv/ XBMC-focused distro) running on ARM. Even if not, I've
had a few other random ideas in my head that require small cheap PCs, like
a kitchen PC with calendar and recipe book mounted in or below a cupboard.
Stupid stuff that I would never do with a full-sized PC that cost any
significant amount of money, isn't all that useful, but would be fun to do
anyway.

Also, they will not come with cases in the first batch, but in the article
it says the ones released in '12 will be the same cost with a case included.

On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 9:43 AM, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> 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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