Slashdot Mirror
$9 Open Source Computer Blows Past Crowdfunding Goal
An anonymous reader writes: A team of engineers and artists has launched a Kickstarter campaign for C.H.I.P., a small computer that costs $9. The campaign met and far exceeded its $50,000 goal on the first day. The device runs an R8 ARM CPU clocked at 1 GHz, 512 MB of RAM, and 4GB of storage. It has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and runs a version of Debian. The price was enabled by two things: super-cheap Chinese tablets pushing down processor costs, and support from manufacturer Allwinner to make it even cheaper. The team is also building breakout boards for VGA and HDMI connections, as well as one with a tiny LCD screen, keyboard, and battery. Importantly, "all hardware design files schematic, PCB layout and bill of materials are free for you the community to download, modify and use."
This is pretty amazing if they can actually sell those for $9. Definitely one of the better kickstarters I've seen recently, so I am glad to see its successful.
However, once you add the HDMI, it's essentially the same price as a raspberry pi model A.
Ok you got the parts cheap.
Then you need to put it together.
Then you need to package it.
Then you need to advertise it.
Then you need to ship it.
You have to pay taxes on your profit.
You need to pay for the people managing this process.
If there is a failure rate you will have returns that you need to refund.
All in all you are probably up to $30-$40 for a unit. This is still a good price, but it is comparable to a Raspberry Pi.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
In defense of the calculator - it has an included screen, dedicated custom keyboard, custom slim case, battery life measured in months if not years, etc.
In non-defense of the calculator - most of its cost is not in the above, but in its certification for use in [school / university / industry] - even if not for itself, then its sibling product which is.. and when that product costs $NN, you can't very well start selling this one for $N without people cluing in.
I love the Pocket Chip flavor - already pledget for two piece set. I was looking for something similar for Raspi but couldn't find any decent enclosure with integrated input, display and battery in slick case. Also integated wifi and bluetooth are very nice.
The $9 basic board comes without any display port but the modular aproach in which you can add VGA or HDMI via addon board is IMHO better than all-in-one Raspi - the board is cheaper that way and you can own only one display adapter and use it in multiple headless projects.
TI-83 is a scam run on Schools, Students and Teachers. There are books written on how to do math on THIS calculator. They don't teach math, they teach math on this Calculator.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Honestly I'm somewhat puzzled about the expected use-case of the CM
Same here. People talk about using it for prototyping embedded systems, but as the Broadcom chip on the Pi is only available in massive bulk, you end up with a prototype that doesn't accurately model the performance of the final product. The Allwinner A13, though, is almost a commodity part, and I'm not surprised they're giving Next Thing help here: if this gets established as the hobbyist prototyping platform, by next year it'll start appearing as the core chip in more and more new devices being launched via Kickstarter.
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
Are you all nuts? This is an incredible price performance point. Yet all I see is nit picking: it can't do this, it doesn't run that, the "real' price is X (what about SHIPPING!!!), the Raspberry Pi is the same only better, etc. What the hell do you expect for $9? A cold six pack and a back massage?
Speaking of the R Pi, if you go back and look at the responses to those announcements, you see the same kind of mindless bitching. The complaints are similar: t doesn't do enough, It's overpriced for what it does, it should be cheaper, more things should be optional, etc. Pretty much the same crap. Yet here the R Pi is the gold standard, and this board sucks. Make up you damned minds.
No matter what anybody comes up with, it's wrong. Have any of the legions of critics done anything even remotely like this? Of course not. They're all just sitting in their parents basement sniping at people who get stuff done. It sounds bunch of pathetic losers who knock everyone else down so they can try and feel superior. It's a disgusting display.
Why is Snark Required?