I must disagree. A big factor in avoidance of tinkering is the amount of money that goes into a tinkerable machine: once configured, one may not want to risk ha

I must disagree. A big factor in avoidance of tinkering is the amount of money that goes into a tinkerable machine: once configured, one may not want to risk having to start from scratch because it's one of very few machines that works. BUT... for $25 I can devote an entire computer to one hobby use, screw it up as I see fit, and not worry about whether I'll be able to do bill-paying, read HN, or whatever else. Got a few ideas to kick around? A mere hundred bucks gets four of these little things, and I can keep each devoted to a different project and in varying state of disrepair, and still not worry about whether it will impact more serious tasks. I'm watching my toddlers learn to play with iOS devices, wanting to let them explore yet concerned that they'll scramble or delete stuff (which they have). Better if I could say "this RPi is yours, go nuts" and guide them from playing Angry Birds (or some such attractor) into writing software, with nary a fuss about my beloved iPad. I started out with home computers being unused for "real" purposes, leaving them available for tinkering; now that they're an integral part of our culture, an accidental fork-bomb or rm -rf /. can really cause problems, and there isn't the money yet to shell out several hundred dollars per kid per tinkering inclination ... but with RPi, gimmie two (one in pink, one in camo green) and let 'em at it.