Slashdot Mirror
Order Limit On Raspberry Pi Lifted
hypnosec writes "Raspberry Pi, the small $35 ARM-based computer system capable of running Linux that took the world of technology by storm just a few months back, has its order limit shackles removed as it has been revealed that manufacturers are now producing 4000 units per day. The Raspberry Pi Foundation, the non-profit organization behind the tiny computer, has said that RS Components and element14/Premier Farnell have started producing enough units to allow them to scrap the order limit on Raspberry Pi. In a blog post, the foundation made the announcement. Initially the limit of one unit per customer was placed in the light of limited stocks. Despite these limits, there was always a shortage and people had to wait for long time to get their hands on one of these credit card sized computers."
If you are making an embeded system such as a robot, house control system, etc. this will be cheaper than buying a full computer.
Low power, 35$ is cheaper than hundreds, and with this many features, you can use it in many places that you can't use a full sized pc.... like to play music from a solar powered messenger bag.
while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
I ordered mine a while ago. Credit card was charged about 3 weeks ago. Still waiting on shipping information. :-(
Not that I'm upset. It's obviously a toy computer for me. But it's Summer, and I want to play with my toy!
(Planning on hooking up a couple external USB hard drives and using it as a low power NAS.)
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
I wonder if they called the cap on raspberry orders... wait for it... the raspberry beret.
---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
I was luck enough to get in on the first round of availabilty, and only had to wait 10 weeks to get it (only mostly sarcastic), and it's been a great unit. It's given me a platform to work on and learn far more about cross-compiling, working in a small(er) footprint, and generally programming in general.
Currently, I'm working to make it the core of a computer concept for my car. Will it be as good as stuff "off the shelf?" ~Really~ unlikely. Will it be a whole lotta fun getting it going? You betcha! And so far, I've only shelled out about US$45 for the Raspberry Pi and some wiring to get started on this project.
--- no sig to see here... move along.
Small, very cheap (proper computers are at least ten times as expensive), and can be run from a small pack of AA batteries.
If I need something that fits any of those criteria and doesn't require massive general computing power then the Pi is perfect.
Robotics, small distributed experiments, mucking around with programming, seeing what can be done, fitting a computer (almost) into an Altoids tin, low power.... I would say that at $35 this is pretty awesome. Heck, as it has the capability to decode HD video and has a USB port, WiFi, and a SD slot then it works fine as a main video computer, just connected to an old LCD. Great for the kids' room.
Oh yeah, and it's silent. Because of the low power it doesn't require fans.
So, small, cheap, silent, energy efficient..
Consider the issue explained
Because the price *is* an issue.
Dangit, couldn't you have waited to post the slashdot article until I had ordered mine?
--Joe
Remember how the OLPC "inspired" Asus to bring out the EeePC and thus started the NetBook revolution (subsequently nipped by the iPad)? The EeePC being the beefier machine, even if the specs were underwhelming to the power user, Asus managed to steal the thunder and the sales away from the OLPC. Will the Raspberry Pi inspire a similar revolution in ultra-small form factor motherboards? I know my next motherboard won't be larger than mini-ITX, but I would be willing to shell a few extra bucks to have a full-powered, if not full-featured, desktop computer no larger than a consumer router.
The article summary says $35, but http://www.raspberrypi.org/ states $25. Which is accurate? Is there more than one model?
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
I just saw something that fits the small Android PC slot perfectly:
http://www.fanlesstech.com/2012/07/minix-tv-box-h24.html
Its an Android PC designed for TVs, but maybe ideal for my small PC needs, already can run Ubuntu, but I want it for Android.
Or perhaps these will start appearing in boxes:
http://www.fanlesstech.com/2012/07/worlds-first-tegra-3-mini-itx.html
Mini format PC style motherboard, with PC spec, but Quad core Arm, running Android, supports up to 3 screens, HDMI, cheap.
This site shows the locations of several Raspberry Pi owners; look like there are plenty in the US.
http://rastrack.ryanteck.org.uk/
The order site still says 12 weeks delivery time. Obviously the manufacturing ramp up is not keeping up with orders. Maybe removing the order limit is still a bad idea. Maybe just raising it to a few (schools can order more) would be better.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
Why would you use tiny one-board computer when full computers aren't that expensive and, for that matter, the price probably isn't issue. You can get much better devices that way.
I think people are too often thinking Raspberry Pi as a mini-sized desktop computer, while it mainly targets simple programming and a basis for various embedded projects. R-Pi more like a really powerful Arduino. It's painful to read stories about people trying to cram some full-fledged linux distro into it.
But yes, if you really want a general-purpose mini desktop machine with lots of bang for the buck, I recommend getting a used netbook and forgetting R-Pi.
I think part of the issue is popularity. If lots of people are using this platform, then someone who is not as creative/innovative as others can still find solutions to his/her problems. While using a phone is clever, and cost effective, I wouldn't be able to figure it out. But, I know a few different programming languages, and I am comfortable in a linux environment, so the Raspberry Pi seems more up my alley.
Consider the issue explained
To go a little further, I'd like to remind everyone that it was developed and pitched as an educational tool in the UK with some big backers.
I now have five of these in my possession with one lent to a friend whose wife keeps him on a very short leash financially. And I had one arduino that was fun to tinker with but I'm more excited about these just because of the prospect of the numbers. Even if I never write one line of code that utilizes this board specifically, there are going to be hundreds of projects developed by hobbyists, teachers, students, etc that are going to target this particular chipset more than any other just based purely on the numbers game. And, I must admit jealously as an American, many UK students that take CS courses are going to come out of high school fully versed in this particular chipset with free time and college and on their hands to make exciting or entertaining projects with it. And the $25/$35 price point really enables that. I'm much more daring with these boards because I have five of them (if I burned out my arduino mega that'd be a painful learning experience). And since I have five, one is hooked up to a USB drive with all my movies and music to my TV. Another is permanently attached to a monitor with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Another is simply on the network and I can SSH into it and run code on it.
Lastly I'd add that they are simple. Buy a $300 machine from Dell and watch something go bad on it at some point in time. There's not a lot to go bad on these devices but they haven't been around long enough to test their reliability of MTTF in the wild. So I could eat my words on that point but so far they run like a champ for me with no defects.
Frankly put, the pervasive nature of this product is going to make any code you write for it consumable by many people -- the demand is so high one can only speculate on how high that number will become. I'm definitely sending some of these to my younger cousins that have shown an interest in computer science and I hope the schools in the US make an effort to leverage these devices.
My work here is dung.
Since we're on the subject -- NetBSD is being ported to the RaspberryPi, despite all the roadblocks in place to do so. (RPi is not an open platform) It is booting to multiuser in test code. See hubertf's post on the subject. I intend to help test as soon as my unit arrives.
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
First, there is inexpensive, and then there is lunch-money inexpensive. Once you get to the price of a couple $20 bills, it becomes an impulse buy, no need to budget it.
Second, size / heat / power draw are big issues (no fan).
Third, unlike many other ARM-based devices, this one boots directly off the SD card. So it makes it much harder to "brick" than, say, re-purposing a home router with a Linux distro. And, most of the other similar type devices don't have video / audio out, so they are only suitable for network use or as an embedded controller.
As for what projects I'm using this for:
1) Simple NAS type device to dump backups to -- I have a network based backup daemon running on it with a restricted protocol, which makes it very resilient to being attacked by malware on other boxes that I'm backing up.
2) My parents have an LCD TV in their kitchen -- I am planning on hooking one of these up so they can use it as a kitchen computer (wireless keyboard, look up recipes, play card games, etc).
3) Also, I can give one to my Dad to hook up as a spare computer, that would allow him to click on anything without getting into trouble (one of his friends is always forwarding stuff, some of which may link back to a drive-by download site).
It is more flexible than the old phone option though, especially for those of use who don't have one lying around.
...) depending on what you are wanting it to do.
* I'll run "full" Linux (or ?BSD) rather than Android being the only option (and not even the latest Android no doubt)
* Wired network access is possible
* A "proper" keyboard & mouse can be attached (I'm assuming the phone doesn't have a host-capable USB port)
* Other USB connected devices too for that matter
* Easy access to I/O channels for connecting non-USB things (such as motors and other custom electronics)
Of course if you have the phone hanging around you could try repurpose it, it would probably be a fun project if you are that way inclined, but I suspect the extra hassle would eat any saving from not buying a Pi or equivalent. A quick scan on eBay.co.uk suggests that you would be better off selling the old phone and putting the proceeds towards something like a Pi.
You are right that the phone does have some advantages over the Pi though (built in screen, built-in keyboard (IIRC the Dream was a slide keyboard unit?), neat little case, almost certainly smaller than a Pi+case,
They are intended for teaching hacking.
$500 school computer: "Right kids, it's 3 to a keyboard for the duration of a lesson. You can sign up for access during after-school club. Don't break anything because the next lesson needs the computers too. We won't have the PC lab next week because Mr Jones' class wants to take a turn.
$500 home computer: "Don't break it, Mummy wants to use Facebook after you've gone to bed"
$25 board: The PTA has signed up a sponsor so every pupil gets their own.
Also the Pi is designed for really simple recovery. Flash a new SD card and start again with a clean slate.
It is more flexible than the old phone option though, especially for those of use who don't have one lying around. ...
* Easy access to I/O channels for connecting non-USB things (such as motors and other custom electronics)
That's the part that interests me the most! I'm studying mechanical engineering, and I've always seen I/Cs as just a way to control where/when electricity is delivered. I like the arduino for this reason- I can access pins without having to learn a new programming language, or do any sort of memory management. I really see the R-Pi as a more powerful arduino (unfortunately, it's more expensive- with the arduino, I can take out the atmega328 chip, add a few components on to a perf board, and make my project permanent for under $10. that's not really an option with the R-Pi)
Before you run too far with this, most kids will need more than $25 to get started. A monitor, keyboard etc. or a separate PC to ssh from. It all adds up.
True, but they Pi team observed that there's loads of keyboards and mice going to landfill. For a display, there's composite to an old TV (sounds awful, but we managed in the 80s/90s) HDMI to a new TV, or get a dedicated monitor. It *is* a shame the Pi has no analogue VGA for all the CRT VGA monitors going begging.
And if you can later learn to code in C, your project may not even need an ATmega328. As an example, the ATtiny13A is only 1.06$CAD at Digi-Key.ca.
the other will be the file server for my business
Am I the only person who shuddered when reading that?
They are intended for teaching hacking.
Unfortunately, the limiting factor for that isn't the available hardware. It's available teaching talent.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!