At it's original price, it's quite useful for small projects such as controlling a CNC (laser, 3d printer, router, etc) or a retro game console, etc. When you

At it's original price, it's quite useful for small projects such as controlling a CNC (laser, 3d printer, router, etc) or a retro game console, etc. When you scale beyond that, even a cluster of them can't match a really cheap mini desktop computer. At current prices, you're definitely better off with the mini desktop. I wanted to add a Pi to my other 3d printer recently, and can't find one laying around, so I went to buy a $15 R Pi 0W2... It's $115 on Amazon and sold out everywhere else. For slightly more, I can get a 3 or 4. For slightly more yet, I'm in mini PC territory. The software can run on Linux, but it's designed for a Pi and the instructions say you're on your own. Ugh.