

Beta Raspberry Pi PCs Draw Big Bids On eBay - wiradikusuma
http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/02/beta-raspberry-pi-pcs-draw-big-bids-on-ebay/

======
fierarul
The big bids are just cashing in on the hype that has been build up over this.

I'm also eager to get one, but I think it's at least an year until it will be
in a usable state as a product.

This would be a perfect in-laws replacement computer. With some Linux and
Chrome on it, it would make a decent browsing computer. This is basically the
price-point I would expect for a Chromebook box. Just add the old peripherals
and you're done.

Right now though it seems to target more of an Arduino enthusiast.

After it gets a proper box and some official OS support (say, some Ubuntu
Raspberry Pi edition) it might have a chance to go mainstream.

Speaking of mainstream, Flash might be a bit of a problem.

~~~
Tim-Boss
Without support for Flash I'm not sure this could realistically be considered
a "browsing computer", especially for less-than-technophiles!

~~~
wzdd
The iPad doesn't support Flash and plenty of less-than-technophiles use it as
an everything computer.

~~~
makmanalp
What does the "don't have flash" stub look like? Does the ipad recognize
embedded flash and show a friendly explanation or is that left to the site?

~~~
jonbro
If the site doesn't have a helpful explanation, there is a blue lego piece
with a question mark on it. I cant remember if there is anything else.

------
djohnsonm
The reason prices are so high is because it is a charity event.

"All the money raised from this auction will be put straight back into the
Raspberry Pi Foundation, and will be used to fund its charitable activities."

------
djhworld
Argh I'm so looking forward to the production version getting released.

I wish they didn't post so many of these updates as it's making me sad that I
probably won't be able to buy one for at least a year

------
drewblaisdell
Does anyone else think that this is because of entrepreneurs with Raspberry
Pi-utilizing ideas that are eager to begin working with it?

~~~
wiradikusuma
I fall to that camp. Just curious, can anyone recommend any good starter,
practical, book on single board computers and/or micro-controllers from the
perspective of programmer?

EDIT: I even think of attending university majoring in electrical engineering,
but I think it's overkill (I'm a BCompSc).

~~~
jonbro
I don't know about books, but there are some similar single chip computers out
there. You may want to take a look at the beagleboard and the beaglebone. I
think the difference in both of those is a slightly higher cost, and slightly
less good gpu (if they have a gpu at all, I am not sure).

I would just get an arduino and start messing around. While electricity is
black magic to me, the programming end of microcontrollers is pretty easy to
understand.

~~~
daeken
Rather than the beagleboard and other related systems, I'm now recommending
the Trimslice (<http://trimslice.com/web/>) heavily. Picked one up a couple
months ago and I absolutely love it. It's become my go-to ARM dev box.

~~~
polymatter
Trimslice is significantly more expensive though.

If you're a complete noob like me and still have difficulty reading
electronics diagram, or sketchy on how transistors work, then get a cheap
hackable arduino until you're ready for the more adventurous stuff.

HD video might be out of reach, but you can output to TV (see gameduino).
Processing is limited, but you can ship processing to a server via ethernet
(see nanode). Storage is limited, but you can have SD card shields (or use a
remote server). Or how about radio control (see nanode RF
<http://http://nanode.eu/>)?

Plus an arduino might be a nice companion with a Pi/Beaglebord/Trimslice for
remote sensors or remote control. or maybe Lilipad arduino for wearable
computing apps.

