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$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."
$9 is too much. 7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 dwarves. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby. Step into my office.
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.
And yet a graphing calculator with a fraction of the power will still run you $109.
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.
OK, so it's a $30 board. The problem is $79 get's you a Windows 8.1 x86 tablet.
I think it's has a bunch of GPIO pins, but not the built in usb, hdmi, etc. The built in wifi is nice too. Let's hope it works better than the wifi dongle I bought for my RPi. I second the argument that after you buy a case, power adapter, and anything else just about, the price is never going to be only $9.
itd be nice if it booted and auto joined your wifi network. Then you could ssh and really only NEED to buy a power adapter. We'll see what they come up with.
This board is perfect for a few projects I've been kicking around and the $9 price point is better than having to drop $50 on a beaglebone black or $40 on a Pi.
Wifi b/g/n AP|client, bluetooth 4, and a battery charge controller(easy UPS) are onboard, as are 8 digital GPIO, 1 PWM, and a parallel LCD output(it has an HDMI converter, but I wouldn't expect 1080p)
No power or case for the $9 version. No ethernet on any of them, looks like.
I agree that 8 is better. It's like infinity taking a nap.
Has wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.
Said it roughly 15 years ago already here on slashdot:
We're smack in the middle of a transition to a post-scarcity cyberpunk society. A throw-away end-user PC for 9$ is basically exactly that.
Computers aren't the deal anymore. Who can operate them, how do I connect x to y to z and how do I migrate data from a to b - that's what this is all about. I can hardly be bothered to replace my 4.5 year old HTC Desire HD Smartphone because it's already basically a supercomputer in my pocket. With a replacable battery - which most of todays smartphones don't have.
The fact that I would like a bigger screen and that the browser with Android 2.3 Gingerbread is starting to have problems with todays website might actually just get me to do it. I would love to have a convergence device though - one that can act as my desktop as soon as I plug it into its cradle. ... Maybe I should really wait for that new Ubuntu phone to come out ...
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
https://linux-sunxi.org/GPL_Violations
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Allwinner-GPL-Violate-Proof
why are we enabling them and encouraging them?
"Importantly, "all hardware design files schematic, PCB layout and bill of materials are free for you the community to download, modify and use."
I guess you people have never heard of Allwinner, a fairly serial GPL violator. They're also pretty hostile towards the OSS community.
No Linux device tree that I can tell, which means no support for shit.
Oh, also - $9 computer with $20 shipping cost? That's the oldest eBay scam in the book. That thing only weighs a couple of ounces at most - $5 maximum even WITH insurance.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Yep, $5 for people in the USA, $20 for everyone else. Worse for many people that will likely push the total cost into the band where it is liable for VAT in the EU (at least if they are honest on the customs form) and the carrier will then more than likely charge me for collecting the VAT.
And they don't seem to offer any packs of multiple of the basic board to spread the cost of shipping and customs BS over more units. The only multipacks they seem to offer are of their portable device.
I guess (as a brit) I'll wait until the dust settles after the kickstarter and distributors over here start stocking them. Hopefully at not too much of a markup.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
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.
Tell me about it. A few months ago I bought a cheap USB drive that was so bad, I lost my data before copying it to the drive.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
$9 with $5 shipping on Kickstarter, at least in the US.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
i'm curious how you reach that conclusion. it seems like as long as you plan on using hdmi the specs and price are comparable to an Rpi A which sells for $25. two differences are the wifi and built in storage which are extra on rpi. on the otherhand 4gb is kinda small if you want to call it PC the Rpi is supported better in hardware, software, drivers, and is proven. (how much is your time worth?) it looks to me like the shields for this consume the io pins as well.
http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
actually no
7 were for dwarf lords in their halls of stone
this $9 is for mortal men doomed to die
in the land of silicon where transistors lie
Chip is near reality. There is a working prototype
I'll believe the $9 price tag after they actually go to market.
Why wasn't my HP 12C allowed? Oh right, because the books didn't know RPN.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
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?
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.
True.
Here in France a huge effort was made to break the TI monopoly, and now we are allowed to use one crappy, expensive Casio as an alternative to the crappy, expensive TI.
Meanwhile all kids have a phone with more compute power than a Cray-1.
Watch this Heartland Institute video
The $9 does not include a power adapter or battery. It can be powered from USB so any standard USB charger should work as a power source. They are selling batteries if you want to go that way. It also does not include a case.
WiFi is built into the board. So is Bluetooth. But no wired Ethernet.
Yes, in a way it's a cheaper Raspberry Pi. Overall it's comparable to the original Pi - pluses are a faster CPU and built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, the big minus is no built-in HDMI. It falls short of the power of the Pi 2, which has a quad core CPU and 1GB RAM, but we shouldn't expect a $9 computer to be as powerful as a $35 computer. The $9 price point makes it appealing for embedded applications, and the fact that you're getting networking with that $9 makes it even better.
... but we shouldn't expect a $9 computer to be as powerful as a $35 computer.
The 1975 me just thinks this is really funny.
We are truly living in the future. $35 computers? $9 computers? Bring it!