As others have pointed out, you could do so much with this. It's similar to a raspberry pi or a beagle board, but it comes with Bluetooth, a screen, and a knob

As others have pointed out, you could do so much with this. It's similar to a raspberry pi or a beagle board, but it comes with Bluetooth, a screen, and a knob for input. This is exactly the kind of thing that would be a great controller for a 3D printer or similar CNC machine. It can still be used as a media player, even if doing so will require custom software. It could be an interface for home automation, smart thermostat, or daily planner. People make all kinds of devices using similar hardware every day. Rather than rolling your own, here is one that will soon be cheap on all the used markets as the average owner has no further use for it. The article is really overly critical of this. It's not a potato and it's not necessarily e-waste if it's easily reusable. What hardware did the author expect this to have? It's a glorified MP3 player. We used far less powerful systems for that in the early 2000s. No doubt that chip is cheap and plentiful. Why would they use anything more? The article strays far from reporting on the news and well into an opinion piece.