Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2013 20:20:45 -0500 From: George Rosamond <george@ceetonetechnology.com> To: freebsd-arm@freebsd.org Subject: Re: RaspberryPi Matters. Message-ID: <50F35D6D.8040500@ceetonetechnology.com> In-Reply-To: <20130113182741.2b15429b@ivory.wynn.com> References: <30AF1584-FFA7-4CF5-9647-D1E2570765EE@freebsd.org> <20130113182741.2b15429b@ivory.wynn.com>
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On 01/13/13 18:27, Brett Wynkoop wrote: > On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 11:12:26 -0800 > Tim Kientzle <kientzle@freebsd.org> wrote: > >> Wonder how this compares to BeagleBone, PandaBoard, etc.? >> >> http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/12/one-million-raspberry-pi-have-been-sold-since-launch/ > > I bet more pi have been sold because they are cheaper and they have > more press. > > I plan to get a Pi as well, but I am waiting until I have my BeagleBone > doing all I want it to do first. I tend to think the audience for the BeagleBone, PandaBoard, etc. is a bit different from the standard Pi buyer. And probably significantly lower in sales due to the angle of the Pi marketing and publicity. The NYC Maker Faire Pi event was packed, and the audience questions focused on the graphics abilities of the Pi. I also think the Pi blossomed as a holiday gift to and from a wider array of people, including the last-minute relative who bought it for their "relative who's into computers" or who is aspiring. Not to downplay the significance of the numbers, but I think a lot of Pis will end up sitting quietly on bookshelves, gathering dust, in much higher proportions than the other boards. It's all good though. More ARM and embedded boards out there means more interest, activity and familiarity. And ultimately even cheaper boards from more manufacturers, not to mention on EBay... Which is why I think ultimately each of the BSDs should be able to provide a simple image easily dd'd from Windows or OSX that is as user-friendly as the current stock Linux ones, with full GPIO support, etc. Heck, maybe even with a cutesy thttpd-based interface. And at some point when things are truly stable, we can start getting board manufacturers to provide it as an option on microSD cards. g
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