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Comment by _mlbt | Hacker News Reader

This is why I’ve become sour on Raspberry Pi. By the time you obtain all the parts you need to turn it into a usable computer you’re spending more than you would for a used mini desktop PC that is more compatible and often more performant. Unless you really need an ARM processor for some reason, it’s hard to justify it.

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The Pi has ended up in a strange zone where most of their customers are using it for things it isn't even good at.

It used to be positioned like an upscale microcontroller that cost a little bit more, but you could control hardware using the GPIO and you were afforded a whole linux OS where you could use higher level languages.

But then people started using it just for running fat linux applications like a PC. Then of course they started demanding more power, and so we've ended up with a bad mini-pc, rather than a platform for tinkering with hardware.

The old Pis made a lot of sense as an Arduino+++. But instead people are using them as a PC---

I don’t think most of their customers are using it for things it isn’t good at, just that those who are are very vocal online. I imagine most of their sales are to customers who are using them for projects where a reliable, supported SBC with GPIO is useful.

Raspberry Pi seem very engaged with their market and what they’re doing. They’re just not interested in making homelab media servers.

You seems as somebody who has inside information, or maybe you're just speculating, too? People are right to question RPI offerings because most of us still remember the core idea from the inception of that project. Luckily there're still Zero's and Pico's that make for something intriguing (and the CMs, too). The core product for the most people (yes, really for most) has become too far away from attractive.

You just need to listen to some of the interviews Eben Upton has done. Also they seem to be quite successful doing what they’re doing?

The Pi has never really been aimed at the Linux-savvy power user. It’s always sucked at being a power user’s PC or as any kind of server where size and power consumption were not a primary concern.

You’ve always been able to find a used PC on eBay for a comparable price, even in the days of the Pi 1. This has never been the point of the Pi.

It was designed to be educative and versatile, and I think that still holds up today. It’s still excellent as a teaching computer for those wanting to learn Linux, or for those without access to a real PC. It’s excellent for embedded work, or prototypes, bespoke commercial solutions and hobby projects involving controls and sensors.

Yes, it was clear during the post epidemic chip shortage their primary customers were companies embedding it in various ways [0]. This has enabled them to execute on what I think is an excellent vision with the Pi Pico (including using it as a peripheral bridge on the 5).

At the same time, the B model and the 500 are oriented toward a general purpose tinkerer audience and RPi even highlights PCIe on the 5's homepage as if M.2 was natively on the board instead of a FPC connector (there is a caveat further down the page).

I appreciate RPi's vision and long lead times and think it would be interesting to hear the story of how they came to the decision of FPC plus power from 40 pin as opposed to building out M.2 (which could also be used for wireless, NPU/TPU, OCuLink, etc). Maybe it had to do with what they thought they could support with that Pico peripheral interconnect? Unlike standard PC makers they aren't taking a batteries included mobo chipset.

  All aboard the PCI express
  This addition to Raspberry Pi allows you to connect an M.2 SSD to your Raspberry Pi, giving you speedy data transfer and super-fast boot.

0. https://www.pcmag.com/news/shortages-prompt-raspberry-pi-to-...

1. https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-5/

It honestly is weird that the 500 doesn't have a M.2 slot, being an all-in-one package. Not all of the Pi's use cases would benefit from fast mass storage and so you can understand why they wouldn't add a M.2 slot as standard if it keeps the BoM low and board size small. Not so with the 500.

Its not supposed to be a usable computer. I've never hooked up any of my Pis to a monitor longer a few minutes other than to enable SSH, which now you don't even need to. Either way, I'm fine leaving out all the accessories.

The best part of the Pi ecosystem is that if one dies, I can easily find a replacement and just swap out the SD.

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