[OT] Raspberry Pi vs x86 embedded motherboard PART 2

[William Waldman]

To impact these markets in a worthwhile way, we would need to add
resources that appeal to these markets - which are very different from
each other.

Here's some background to the Academic and Maker markets as I see it,
which would indicate the kinds of support the LiveCode community would
need to provide to achieve this visibility: 

(Please don't take offense at what you read below if you teach Computer
Science in K-12 settings. It does not pertain to the LiveCode community
which tends to be a very unusual, non-homogenous group. It merely is my
opinion of what a mass market of US K-12 Computer Science teachers are
inclined towards, and have been asked to do since the '70s.)

The academic group consists mostly of people who don't have much training
or experience with electronics, micros, "the Internet of things",
interactive computing etc. They generally don't solder, don't know much
about computers that are not desktops, laptops or mainframes (!), and have
little experience programming mobile platforms. But they may have been
teaching programming to kids for decades. This group thrives on textbooks,
prepackaged lab kits, a support site or CD. They respond well to marketing
that allows them to feel that what they are doing is "state of the art",
"classroom friendly," and highly targeted at people like themselves, and
that they can access support and even classroom training before teaching
these materials. They tend to understand and prefer the compile/run/debug
model. If they have been doing this for a while, they've had to re-tool
several times (Basic, then Pascal, then C++, then Java, from the 70's till
now.) 

The Makers (specifically, those just starting out) thrive on repeatable,
clearly documented projects, easy availability of components, open source
hardware and software, and an intensely passionate on-line community that
are actively executing and improving projects, blogging all the way. While
they may have noticed that Radio Shack has returned to its roots and now
carries Arduino and a healthy stock of basic electronic components, they
also rely heavily on Internet-only supply houses big and small. They may
be solitary individuals or the lucky few that belong to a Maker Space or
have friends that share an interest.

The low price of entry (of a Raspberry Pi model B at $35, for instance) is
of some appeal to both camps, and has helped to create buzz. As Richard
Gaskin has pointed out, there's still plenty of additional hardware
required and the net cost is not especially low in the end - unless you
already have a spare SD card, monitor, keyboard, mouse, compatible USB
hub, and a few adapters and cables. And also a case, which contributes to
stability as much as a decent power supply. In addition, you will need a
working computer and Internet access to download software, format the SD
card, and access documentation to get up and running. The whole cost
question comes down to what you're trying to accomplish in the end. A
Raspberry Pi makes a poor general purpose laptop, but they have been used
in applications like high altitude balloon experiments, run off 6 AA
batteries for as long as 28 hours. An Arduino requires even less power.

We need to recognize that these new devices are an opportunity for
LiveCode - if we want to take advantage of the buzz. 

Some links:
Arduino	http://www.arduino.cc/
Raspberry Pi	http://www.raspberrypi.org/
BeagleBone Black	http://beagleboard.org/Products/BeagleBone%20Black
The Maker movement	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker_culture
The Maker Faire	http://makerfaire.com/
The Scratch language	http://scratch.mit.edu/

Thanks -

Bill Waldman
Director of Technology
King
Stamford, CT
www.klht.org



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