The hardware itself was never particularity novel. The strength was in the software, support, and community which made the barrier to entry low and learning new skills easy.
this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2026
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Apples and oranges hardware-wise (and maybe having actually taken an intro to C++ course and not python plays a bias), but I found Arduino more approachable for a noob, given the Arduino has example code and a library manager within the IDE. RPi felt less guided to me and required a lot more external reference. That said, there's something to be appreciated about just saving the .py and having the program run without having to wait a minute to compile.
In terms of GPIO only, Arduino is quicker to get started. Getting an LED to blink is easier on Arduino because you don't need to setup SSH or use the Pi's GUI. It's just that the Pi can do so much more than basic GPIO controlling.
What I’ve used RPi for:
- Finishing masters thesis when my PC died at most unfortunate time possible.
- Controlling 3D printers.
- Connecting old boring paper printers to home network.
- Making my dumb TV smart (worth noting that RPi also supports HDMI-CEC, so no additional remote required).
- Hosting all kinds of stuff - websites, web-services, gaming servers, Discord bots, git server, VPNs, Pi-Hole etc.
- Controlling radio transceivers (SDR).
- Controlling robots.
I’ve probably forgotten something. But yes - it’s a miniature miracle worker, that I used to throw at my problems. 🗿
Ditto. I built a starship computer for my niece that ran on Pygame.
Honestly, I'm surprised that there aren't more alternatives by now. It's been such a fixture for so many years I would've expected alternatives, but every few years I go looking and end up buying another Pi for my project.
It's kind of indispensable for so many projects.
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Oh I know. I have one Pi running Home Assistant, and another running a print server for a printer that has a shitty NIC.
Both are excellent devices. It's hard to compare them from a hardware standpoint because I think there are so few cases in which you would have to pick between these two.
I think you could compare them in terms of fan appeal, in the same way you can compare Liverpool FC and the Greenbay Packers, not as rival teams but as two totally different teams that people love. But just like in that case, it would seem silly to argue that the Packers are better than Liverpool (or vice versa), you know?
It used to be $30. That's why it goy popular. Broligarchs ruined that along with everything else too.
Now we have $7 esp32. Smaller, cheaper and does a lot of cool stuff.
The use cases are vastly different. And pretty sure I was using cheap ESP8266's a decade ago for everything I use an ESP32 for today.
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Where do I get a esp32 board for 10$?
They cost $3 at AliExpress, sadly Europe ruined AliExpress and imposed huge tarrifs on it.
and yet here we are, using a meme depicting a wife abusing piece of shit.
CAN WE NOT HAVE ONE FUCKING NICE THING
I thought we all agreed two years go to let this meme die because Steven Chowder (a well-known grifter) is the guy in the photo.
I digress; how old are you OP? Do you remember when the Pi first launched? As everyone else already pointed out, it was revolutionary for its time.
Edit: And yes I spelled his name incorrectly on purpose; fuck him
The Pi was revolutionary when it first came out, there had never been a device with its combination of small size, compute capability and low price before. But over time other devices have caught up if not exceeded the Pi's capabilities and it no longer stands out in any particular way.
Can you share some links?
I'm not sure what kind of links you're looking for, but there are plenty of sites with the history of the Pi series available with a simple search.
But over time other devices have caught up if not exceeded the Pi’s capabilities and it no longer stands out in any particular way.
If this is true, it's great news to me, and I'd like you to show me where I can get a nice, cheap, well-supported single board computer.
Nothing is cheap any more, not even (perhaps especially) the Raspberry Pi, but there are plenty of options out there with similar specs, sizes and prices. The Raspberry offerings are no longer unique as they were when it first released.
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Because of its documentation, community and software ecosystem. That makes it especially a good entry point for beginners. At least it was when prices were still acceptable.
Got my first in for $5
I got a couple Pi Zeros for $5 each. For years they both have been significantly contributing to my quality of life by blocking ads on two networks with Pi Hole software.
Ayyyyy same use case here
the Pi was never the important thing. the community around it was always the big draw. that community inspired a whole generation of DIYers and people interested in STEM. the impact of the Pi is understated, if anything, because that community branched out to other devices and tech.
It used to have its use cases and still can if you can get one cheap. I bought a 2GB Raspberry Pi 4 last year for €35. It runs Home Assistant and Pi-hole. I prefer it over leaving my media server running all day since it uses vastly less power.
Yeah nowadays they’re like $100 for even the most basic unit
Raspberry Pi B+ on AdaFruit for $29.95
I agree with you that it sucks that the latest gen aren't $45 anymore, but they still make and sell a $30 computer. If anyone can do better I definitely want to know.
Enterprise thin clients are cheaper and faster, though they use more power with x86/64 cpus
Where do people buy thin clients for cheap? Ebay?
Yep. I was just looking at a (dell) wyse 3040 and wyse 5070.
Waow I can get one of those for $50...
Pretty much.
A few years ago I got an hp t620 thin client with an older AMD embedded quad core cpu for like 25€. I ran my home server on that for a while until I upgraded to something bigger.
You can still get the same device for pretty much the same price. You can even upgrade storage and RAM fairly easily (and cheaply, since it’s DDR3 and m.2 SATA).
And if CPU-Monkey is to be believed, it has about the same CPU performance as a RasPi 4 and 4x the graphics performance.
Overrated? No.
Overpriced? Yes.
I agree that it is overrated, but I do also think that it still has value and is legitimately pretty cool. It's nice that it's so tiny and cheap and easy to set up in like under an hour. Low power consumption for simple things that are nice to run all the time makes it feel pretty friendly on the environment versus running a whole desktop computer or server 24-7.
Yet, like many things that are really good, there ends up being a lot of people who want to sing its praises from the heavens as being not just really good, but the greatest thing ever. And so indeed the Pi is also overrated despite being really cool
Kinda. I'm self-hosting on a computer that, if it were a human child, would be in third grade. Didn't need to buy a Pi with worse specs to do the same job at twice the hassle.
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Yes, you do wonder. Glad I could answer that for you.
I think the original affordability with the addition ready made projects and easy accessibility made it really stand out in peoples minds.
isn't that some bad dude or sth ... i heard rumors
It's a pretty bad dude, yeah.
I just started with my new project, a table top retro arcade machine. Using a raspi 5 is the best I can get now, even overpriced. The prices are through the roof for thin clients or mini PC so my planning shiftet to raspi again.
If you have another suggestion I am open for it. I should be capable to run under Batocera and emulate up to Gen 6.
I'd be all about those things if you could buy 20 of them for 50 bucks.
Get a new meme format, or I'm going to continue to assume you like Steven Crowder and are, in fact, an ignorant bigoted crybaby nepo-turd.
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