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Ever since computers got cheaper and smaller, we’ve found different ways to employ them where it would not have made sense before. I suppose there are two main
by samtho 3y ago
Ever since computers got cheaper and smaller, we’ve found different ways to employ them where it would not have made sense before.
I suppose there are two main areas where the RaspberryPi is used: Embedded device and computer replacement.
For the embedded device case, what may have been an Arduino project pre-RaspberryPI became a, say, Python project running on a full Linux system. For this use-case, microcontrollers have gotten much more approachable and many development-grade embedded Linux boards have come out built to the standard of the Raspberry Pi and it’s ease of use.
For the computer replacement, I’m talking about the random media center boxes, tv-as-monitor, network server, or just low power box to use as a desktop. We have the new nucs and knock off or similar boxes because all they did was take a netbook without a screen and keyboard, slice up the main board so it fits in a square, and break out all the I/O ports. These things that can be had for $100-$400 are respectable, low-workload computers.
Has the Pi bubble burst? As long as these ostensibly brain-dead industrial control systems companies keep gobbling up the supply of them, yes. Has the embedded and small-computer bubble burst? Absolutely not.
- i2cmaster 3y agoSoftware has also improved. Micropython is surprisingly good even on micro controllers.
- cookieperson 3y agoIt seems so wrong to use python in embedded but I know that's me being a turd sandwich. But I do have to admit, arduinos and rpi zeros are in the same price point. I don't blame people not needing analog for going rpi even when it is gross overkill. I'm just a minimalist. If I can do my project with 16kb of RAM, I'm not going to throw a GB at it. That all said... This article is silly. No raspberry pis aren't popping or something. The biggest complaint I think most people have with them is you can't buy them anywhere. Constantly sold out. I would have bought two or three this year otherwise...
- dontlaugh 3y agoMicroPython is not really the same thing. It’s most comparable to an embedded Forth, which isn’t uncommon.
- cookieperson 3y agoI know that's why I said I was being a turd sandwich.
- Fr0styMatt88 3y agoFor those TV/media centre/home server use-cases, I suspect it’s also that enthusiasts might already have a collection of older, good-enough hardware for that purpose as well.
- samtho 3y agoPart of this is likely related to power consumption, particularly how power-inefficient older hardware is. A raspberry pi 3b+ will draw max of 2.5A at 5v, so 12.5Wh would make it 8.64KWh per month, and I pay about $0.13 per KWh, so about $1.21 per month for that thing to be screaming every waking hour. Meanwhile, desktop setups baseline power consumption is in the 100s of watts.
- fomine3 3y ago100W for baseline is too much for desktop. Maybe fail of power saving settings. Good tiny desktops can achieve about 12W at idle. https://www.servethehome.com/lenovo-thinkcentre-m900-tiny-project-tinyminimicro-guide/3/ https://www.servethehome.com/lenovo-thinkcentre-m900-tiny-pr...
- Gigachad 3y agoI built a ryzen 5 desktop in 2020 and put 2 hard drives in it. Running a headless Linux install it would idle at 70w. Part of that was I had to put a small GPU in or it refused to boot.
- unaindz 3y agoSadly Ryzen is not as good as Intel for low-power efficiency, just high-power efficiency. Google spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1LHvT2fRp7I6Hf18LcSzsNnjp10VI-odvwZpQZKv_NCI/htmlview#gid=0 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1LHvT2fRp7I6Hf18L...
- samtho 3y agoI just threw in the 100 watt as a baseline because my 10+ year old rig runs that while idle and we seemed to be talking about using our older computers as the media player or home server.