Raspberry Pi is quite simply a tiny little computer. Promoted with its ‘size of a credit card’ tag line, this ‘pocket rocket’ is a very exciting prospect for the tech industry. Across the internet, you will find a wealth of information just on Raspberry Pi projects, so we won’t go into the things you can do with Pi. Instead, we will take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of the machine – what makes it great and what could be improved.
First off, the greatest thing about Raspberry Pi is the price. With an easily affordable price, anyone from teenagers to computer enthusiasts can grab a piece of Pi for themselves. Where commercial counterparts of certain applications of Raspberry Pi can costs hundreds of dollars, Pi offers a much cheaper alternative at only a fraction of the price.
Since we started off with small quantities, let’s move on to the size of Pi. As mentioned before, Raspberry Pi is the size of a credit card. As we all know with technology, usually the smaller it is, the better. With such a small size, Raspberry Pi can be hidden almost anywhere, behind television sets, within walls or even in your wallet.
An interesting thing about Raspberry Pi is that the low price and small size do not necessarily indicate low performance. Although you won’t be able to play the latest hardcore 3D games on your machine, Raspberry Pi allows for High Definition video streaming and other basic computer functions like word processing and web browsing. Pi was originally designed as a programming platform for beginners and as such, it is versatile, powerful and an all-rounder.
With the good, there must come bad, although Raspberry Pi leaves room for only a few flaws. If hearing about it hasn’t enticed you to buy one already, here are some things you might want to consider before jumping on the bandwagon.
Raspberry Pi does not come with a case. This leaves it exposed to human touch and thus may be damaged quite easily. Because it is simply a motherboard with some input ports, dust and water are two very hazardous elements to be kept well away from Raspberry Pi. You can buy readymade cases for your Pi or perhaps, if you are a little more adventurous, you can make your own. However, cases add bulk which ruins the slimness factor.
Unfortunately, Raspberry Pi does not support X86 operating systems. In simpler terms, hardware limitations do not allow for Raspberry Pi to run 32 bit operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, Max OS X or some distributions of Linux. This can be a big loss for not-so computer friendly end users. For professional users, this is not much of a set back as Raspberry Pi supports other popular Operating Systems.
The Internet is riddled with stories about Raspberry Pi. We have provided the facts, now it’s up to you to go out and determine if it will be of use to you. A Raspberry PI board is a new technology that consumers should consider as a reliable option for both day to day and more complicated computing tasks.
Sources:
https://sites.google.com/site/bus237raspberrypi/customize
http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs
http://lifehacker.com/raspberry-pi/Knoll
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