29 Jun
2012
29 Jun
'12
3:44 a.m.
On Thu, Jun 28, 2012 at 08:57:39PM +0100, Tony Duell wrote:
How many people have all those and don't have a computer to conenct
them
to? Why but an Rpi rather than just using said computer.
All kinds of reasons. I, for example, want something small and
cheap that I can dedicate to my experiments with model railway control.
My other computers are either not small and compact, or not cheap, and
they're all already in use.
Small is obviously good. Cheap is necessary because I will need more
than one. And I want something that can run a Unixy OS because of
availability of good dev tools that I'm familiar with. I *could* beat
my chest manfully and build my own computers out of string and angry
weasels, but I have better things to do with my time - such as actually
controlling trains.
It is, if you hae a slow dial-up line and no SD card interface on
your PC
(both apply to me).
I'm very sorry to hear that.
But those don't apply to the vast majority of people who might be
interested.
IMHOP they are. People keep quoting the price for the Rpi
board, not a
complete working set-up.
The Raspberry Pi website makes it clear. As do the websites selling it.
They are not hidden.
Let's add up the total extra costs that most people will have:
keyboard: 0
mouse: 0
SD card: 0
[have you spotted the theme yet?]
power supply: 0
cables: 0
SD card reader: some people might need this GBP 2-ish
case: some people might want this GBP 8-ish
monitor: this is the only one that might actually be common GBP 50
You are making the common mistake of extrapolating from your rather
personal circumstances and assuming that what would be additional costs
for you are also additional costs for large numbers of other people.
--
David Cantrell | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david
It's my experience that neither users nor customers can articulate
what it is they want, nor can they evaluate it when they see it
-- Alan Cooper
The Rpi board is only part of what you need. You also
need a PSU,
keyboard, mouse, USB hub, SD card and some kind of monitor. 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.
But most normal people who might be interested *do* have all
of those. And then there's the OS. From what I understnad
the Rpi doesn't come wit
hthe OS. You have to download it onto an SD card yourself. That's a major
problem for me.
If downloading it and putting it onto an SD card is too
difficult, then But as I saidm, watch for hidden costs...
They're not hidden.