$25 PC priced like a textbook, works with old analog TVs • Hacker News Board

Re: $25 PC priced like a textbook, works with old analog TVs

#31

Post by Nate75Sanders » Thu, Sep 01, 2011, 6:01 PM UTC

soapdog wrote: post #28

bugsy wrote: post #19

OLPC has a $100 PC, India has a $10 PC, and now these guys have a $25 PC. What do they all have in common? They all have in common that NONE OF THEM EXIST. Yes, that's right. These projects get announced as if they are factual existing devices, with announcements using verb tenses suggesting they are currently in production and available. But then looking for details we find that no one is sure what the form of the d…

I have an OLPC XO-1, I used it every week. It is my favorite laptop. I have very good net access with it and use this little gem for my server maintenance needs... cool little thing. If OLPC would do another give-1-get-1, I would pick three. Now, I want do a little bulk order of Raspberry Pis when they are available and see what I can do with them for my community. About the downvotes, you COULD buy an OLPC for $200…

How the hell did you type on that thing? I have one and I can _easily_ type on an Acer Aspire One 8.9" netbook, which many people complain about typing on.

I couuldn't come close to touch typing on my XO due to how close together the keys are. I think the feel of the keyboard would have been at least a minor stumbling block even if the key spacing were wider.

Obviously the design must work pretty well for children, so I'm not complaining about its intended use whatsoever, but I have no idea how an adult could reasonably type on it.

Re: $25 PC priced like a textbook, works with old analog TVs

#32

Post by gravitronic » Thu, Sep 01, 2011, 6:10 PM UTC

ebenupton wrote: post #30

joezydeco wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just an employee, but an associate technical director at Broadcom. Others have found that the Raspberry Pi blog posts and etc are coming from Broadcom addresses. They're doing this on company time. Earlier I thought this was a good marketing thing. Other companies like TI are doing this to get chips in the hands of hackers and spread some goodwill towards future commercial users of their chips. But, as others hav…

Would you believe me if I told you we're just nice guys, who used to be kids who couldn't afford computers?

Hi Eben.

Sorry, I don't mean to detract from what you're doing. I think it's great. I'm very very excited for the Raspberry Pi, both personally and to see what it does globally.

I'm mostly just curious why the chip isn't publicly available. That's all. I personally hope to be able to use this chip in other designs.

Re: $25 PC priced like a textbook, works with old analog TVs

#33

Post by bugsy » Thu, Sep 01, 2011, 6:16 PM UTC

soapdog wrote: post #28

bugsy wrote: post #19

OLPC has a $100 PC, India has a $10 PC, and now these guys have a $25 PC. What do they all have in common? They all have in common that NONE OF THEM EXIST. Yes, that's right. These projects get announced as if they are factual existing devices, with announcements using verb tenses suggesting they are currently in production and available. But then looking for details we find that no one is sure what the form of the d…

I have an OLPC XO-1, I used it every week. It is my favorite laptop. I have very good net access with it and use this little gem for my server maintenance needs... cool little thing. If OLPC would do another give-1-get-1, I would pick three. Now, I want do a little bulk order of Raspberry Pis when they are available and see what I can do with them for my community. About the downvotes, you COULD buy an OLPC for $200…

How is it a flame? The $100 OLPC doesn't exist, the $10 India PC doesn't exist and this $25 PC doesn't exist. You confirm this with your post and then claim I am flaming and downvotes warranted.

If they exist, where are they?

I might as well post about the $75 automobile we have for sale, details on engine and number of wheels not available as we haven't decided, but the one thing we know is it's $75. Completely absurd to be taking such a claim seriously. The product doesn't exist. Pointing to products that cost substantially more doesn't prove anything. I can buy a new ASUS Eee PC 1015PE Seashell with 1GB RAM, a 1.66GHz processor and a 160GB hard drive for $200. That is something that is for sale and being produced by a for-profit company. OPLCs produced for $200 are not evidence that the $100 OPLC exists. The $100 OPLC never existed, nor did the $10 Indian PC, nor does this $25 PC claim.

Re: $25 PC priced like a textbook, works with old analog TVs

#34

Post by Palomides » Thu, Sep 01, 2011, 6:30 PM UTC

asolove wrote: post #17

In the last few weeks I've tinkered with the idea of doing hardware hacking. This and the plug-computers look like they have an interesting future. Where do you start to learn to hack real hardware? (I can do Arduino stuff, but seems like there is a big jump I don't know how to make.)

what sort of "hack real hardware" do you want to do?

Re: $25 PC priced like a textbook, works with old analog TVs

#35

Post by mbrubeck » Thu, Sep 01, 2011, 6:33 PM UTC

CrazedGeek wrote: post #25

bugsy wrote: post #19

OLPC has a $100 PC, India has a $10 PC, and now these guys have a $25 PC. What do they all have in common? They all have in common that NONE OF THEM EXIST. Yes, that's right. These projects get announced as if they are factual existing devices, with announcements using verb tenses suggesting they are currently in production and available. But then looking for details we find that no one is sure what the form of the d…

The OLPC XO-1 was designed for third-world markets: the only way you could acquire one in the US (and possibly other countries?) was by paying $200, which both got you one and sponsored one for a third-world child. (My cousins actually have one, so I know they exist.) They stopped this deal a year or two ago, though. The India PC was never $10 outright, IIRC: it was $10 after some rather massive subsidies. The Raspbe…

OLPC's Give 1 Get 1 program actually cost each donor US$400, of which $200 paid for a donated laptop and $200 paid for a laptop for the donor. I don't know whether they ever eventually got the price close to $100.

I know this because I own an OLPC XO-1 that I acquired through the G1G1 program. See also http://www.olpcnews.com/countries/usa/olpc_xo_laptop_sale.ht...

Re: $25 PC priced like a textbook, works with old analog TVs

#36

Post by corin_ » Thu, Sep 01, 2011, 7:21 PM UTC

reemrevnivek wrote: post #4

$25 for a textbook? If only! I spend $50-$300 per class for engineering textbooks. Also, the analog port is, I believe, only available on the $35 version of the Raspberry Pi. It also works with HDMI and DVI (the latter through an adapter), so you don't need to go scrounging for an analog TV.

The $25 textbook reference is based on children at school, not young adults in universities. I don't know about America, but in England $25 is a pretty good estimate for textbooks used by 8-18 year olds.

Re: $25 PC priced like a textbook, works with old analog TVs

#37

Post by tobiasu » Thu, Sep 01, 2011, 7:26 PM UTC

ebenupton wrote: post #30

joezydeco wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just an employee, but an associate technical director at Broadcom. Others have found that the Raspberry Pi blog posts and etc are coming from Broadcom addresses. They're doing this on company time. Earlier I thought this was a good marketing thing. Other companies like TI are doing this to get chips in the hands of hackers and spread some goodwill towards future commercial users of their chips. But, as others hav…

Would you believe me if I told you we're just nice guys, who used to be kids who couldn't afford computers?

No.

Re: $25 PC priced like a textbook, works with old analog TVs

#38

Post by asolove » Thu, Sep 01, 2011, 7:45 PM UTC

Palomides wrote: post #34

asolove wrote: post #17

In the last few weeks I've tinkered with the idea of doing hardware hacking. This and the plug-computers look like they have an interesting future. Where do you start to learn to hack real hardware? (I can do Arduino stuff, but seems like there is a big jump I don't know how to make.)

what sort of "hack real hardware" do you want to do?

I was going to say something else, but I thought, people should just say their dreams, even if they sound crazy, and maybe they'll find someone who can make it happen. So here goes:

I have a particular dream to open up an Android tablet; get plan9 running on it so I can share my screen, peripherals, files, and programs across a local network; and hack a keyboard onto the back so I can code while standing on the subway. Rough silly mockups here: http://electriceloquence.net/articles/re-imagining-mobile-ha...

Re: $25 PC priced like a textbook, works with old analog TVs

#39

Post by digikata » Thu, Sep 01, 2011, 8:06 PM UTC

bugsy wrote: post #19

OLPC has a $100 PC, India has a $10 PC, and now these guys have a $25 PC. What do they all have in common? They all have in common that NONE OF THEM EXIST. Yes, that's right. These projects get announced as if they are factual existing devices, with announcements using verb tenses suggesting they are currently in production and available. But then looking for details we find that no one is sure what the form of the d…

I suspect you're right in that the $25 is probably just a BOM cost (and an optimistic one at that). Once you actually try to get it built and delivered into someones hands, especially in small batches, I'm sure that $25 could ballon 2-5x easily.

Re: $25 PC priced like a textbook, works with old analog TVs

#40

Post by a_bad_dream » Thu, Sep 01, 2011, 9:39 PM UTC

bugsy wrote: post #33

soapdog wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an OLPC XO-1, I used it every week. It is my favorite laptop. I have very good net access with it and use this little gem for my server maintenance needs... cool little thing. If OLPC would do another give-1-get-1, I would pick three. Now, I want do a little bulk order of Raspberry Pis when they are available and see what I can do with them for my community. About the downvotes, you COULD buy an OLPC for $200…

How is it a flame? The $100 OLPC doesn't exist, the $10 India PC doesn't exist and this $25 PC doesn't exist. You confirm this with your post and then claim I am flaming and downvotes warranted. If they exist, where are they? I might as well post about the $75 automobile we have for sale, details on engine and number of wheels not available as we haven't decided, but the one thing we know is it's $75. Completely absu…

The Raspberry Pi doesn't exist because products take time to develop. However, the progress we have seen indicates that it is on track to be launched in November, exactly when they said it would be.