alt Hacker NewsEven before the hikes, SBCs were $50-$100 a pop, compared to pennies for basic MCUs and maybe $4 for high-performance ones. People were clearly willing to pay 100x more just for familiarity and the ecosystem ("hats", forums, etc). I don't know if 300x is going to make more hobbyists see the light, or just result in fewer of them being able to afford the hobby?
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charcircuit • today at 1:38 AM
That's an apples to oranges comparison. Might as well bring up how people pay thousands of dollars for FPGA boards.
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> People were clearly willing to pay 100x more just for familiarity and the ecosystem
This is obviously logical. If I know how to program in Python or JS but not C and am familiar with SSH, I can do something with a SBC in a few minutes.
I get paid $200/hr. If I spent even one hour to learn what I need to deal with a microcontroller, the time cost is four times the cost of materials if I stick with what I know.
How many small projects do I need to do in my free time before it's financially smart to learn a whole new technology?