The writing I have been doing for the last few months about Android has generated a lot of interest, as reflected in booming page view numbers. The Closer Looks at some of the Android/ARM options out there have been among the most popular posts in the past quarter.
But, by far, the post generating the most readership is about another low-cost option; Raspberry Pi.
This post on a project called Screenly has doubled and tripled most of the other posts about low cost options for digital signage players and software.
I don’t know what that says, other than it is clear there is a big, active appetite out there in the entry-level and probably the higher learning market for a very low-cost solution. I know in trading emails with Rise Vision’s Byron Darlison that his already active user forum has grown particularly active with people looking for ideas on porting the Rise player to the sub-$40 Pi devices.
And people have done it.
If you sell exclusively to Fortune 1000 kinds of companies, Ice Cream Sandwich and Raspberry Pi should not keep you up at night. But if you are selling to the SMB market, and trying to peddle solutions that necessitate a $600-plus PC, get an Ambien prescription. You may need it if you start working out how to compete with increasingly credible $100 alternatives.