28 Jun
2012
28 Jun
'12
1:06 p.m.
On Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 10:07 PM, Tony Duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wr=
ote:
Well, I don't think it should have been hyped as much as it is. There's
noting particualrly special avout it. And I can't comment on the design
becuase as I said the documentation is inadequate. But form what I've
sene it doesn't seen that interesting to me.
I must admit that I am not overly in favour of
the Raspberry pi...
What do you mean? Not in favour of it having been built? It being
marketed the way it is? Its design? Firstly it
seems ot be an overhyped product, and that always seems to
imply a product that I don;'t want. OK, perhaps that's a bit unfair, bu=
t...
While I kind of agree, it is a useful and perhaps _necessary_ thing to
do to make it work economically. You need the economics of scale to
make a device like this cheap. You want the mindshare in the general
(and specialist) community to create resources; documentation;
extensions, etc, etc.
As I mentioned above myself, I agree it's the wrong thing to buy for
many people even if they want one, and part of that _is_ due to the
hype. Typically it's not due to the reason that it's not a good thing
for you, Tony, but because they think it's something that it's not - a
cheap desktop replacement or a ready-to-go game console or media
player. As for the reasons you mentioned... The Rpi board is only part of what you need. You
also need a PSU,
Have something that can produce 5V? Got a cell phone charger?
keyboard, mouse, USB hub, SD card and some kind
of monitor.
Ok, I can appreciate you not having a USB kbd or mouse, the hub is not
really needed, but the video can be on the composite out. I am fairly
certain you have _some_ display that can handle composite. Even without
the
last, that would essentailyl double the cost of the device. Please don'=
t
tell me I can find those extras in the trash/junk
box. I can't. My junk
box doesn't contain PC bits. It does contain enugh to build a computer
from scatch though.
At any largish garage sale, the bits could be picked up for less than 10 euros. So I think its reasonable to assume that
many other people
have the things to make the R=CF=80 work in their junk piles.
OK, it may have improved recently. Certainly when it was anounced I
couldn't find any such information (and no, I don't mean on paper, I did
poke around web sites, etc).
The docuemantion is attrocious. I couldn't
find a schematic, or a real
hardware manual.
Different times again. You would prefer paper documentation (I'm
assuming this, let's be hypothetical). That'd be great, but would
significantly add to costs, esp. w.r.t. shipping. These days - what
the kids are into on the intertubes - is to have a wiki. Here.
http://elinux.org/RaspberryPiBoard
Schematics? Datasheets? Here. http://elinux.org/RPi_Hardware You make it sound as though the R=CF=80 is sourced
from overstock, or
end-run of a product line. I'd be very surprised if that is the case.
That _is_ what I was told, by somebody who works in the industry. It's
quite possible I was misinformed.
-tony