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> Plug computing and Linksys routers weren't cheap, and the Pi was. For their time (20 years ago), they certainly were cheap. $100 or so for a small power effi
by bityard 5y ago
> Plug computing and Linksys routers weren't cheap, and the Pi was.
For their time (20 years ago), they certainly were cheap. $100 or so for a small power efficient box that could run almost a whole Linux distribution was an amazing bargain. Before that, you needed a good-sized desktop or server to do anything involving a Unix-like OS, or paid dearly for the convenience of a laptop.
And it wasn't much before that, that running Unix on any microcomputer was just a dream.
It's hard to comprend just how amazingly affordable computing has become in such a short amount of time.
- selfhoster11 5y agoDo you realise that a $100 is a fortune to the demographic that I specified? For that price, those devices are so out of reach that they might as well just not exist. I remember that time in my life very well. I literally had around $50 in my local currency in the coin box, and that was it. Hand me down computers were unavailable where I was.
- GhettoComputers 5y agoEveryone had one anyway because they needed a router. It was "free". Used ones were common too.