[GRLUG] another Raspberry Pi article

[John-Thomas Richards]

On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 08:34:09AM -0500, Bob Kline wrote:
> > On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 8:11 AM, John-Thomas Richards
> > <jtr at jrichards.org>wrote:
> >> On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 11:30:26PM -0500, Mike Williams wrote:
> >> > http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/28/raspberry_pi/
> >> >
> >> > I want at least one of these critters.
> >> >
> >> > From the article, " Users can run Debian, Fedora and ArchLinux
> >> > ARM GNU/Linux distributions on the Pi, although not Ubuntu at
> >> > this
> >>
> >> I am amazed that it can decode 1080p video.  This thing is amazing.
> >> I want one to put next to the television with a large USB drive
> >> attached.
> >>
> >> I read somewhere that the $25 price tag (though this article says
> >> $35) is for the board itself.  Even with a case this thing can't be
> >> more than $40 or so.  Even for $50 that's a great price for what it
> >> can do.
> >>
[snip]
> 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.....

As Michael posted, this thing is designed for an HTPC.  It is true that
one can purchase a decent motherboard for under $100, but this thing is
$25 (or $35).  With this as the primary hardware, the *hard drive*
becomes the most expensive component.  One could build the *entire* HTPC
for under $100 (a proper case, a wireless keyboard/mouse combo and an
HDMI cable is all you need—particularly if your movies, etc., are stored
on an existing network server).

Oh, hey, completely unrelated but I came across this Babbage quote (in
my .sig) just the other day.  Enjoy.
-- 
john-thomas
------
On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the
machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?"  I am not able
rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such
a question.
Charles Babbage, mathematician and computer scientist (1791-1871)

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