Could This Be The Best Raspberry Pi SBC alternative?

The Hardware Pioneers Max 2024 event, held in London, showcased the latest advancements in hardware technology and innovations in embedded systems. This event brought together industry leaders, enthusiasts, and professionals to explore cutting-edge solutions and emerging trends in the hardware landscape.
Among the notable participants was OKdo, a prominent name in the single board computer (SBC) market. OKdo seized the opportunity to introduce and demonstrate their latest ROCK series SBCs, captivating the audience with their groundbreaking capabilities and versatile applications.
Read The Blog Article:
www.electromaker.io/blog/arti...
More information:
www.okdo.com/
▬ Support us! ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
We publish a new show every week. Subscribe here: / @electromakerio
We stock the latest products from Adafruit, Seeed Studio, Pimoroni, Sparkfun, and many more! Browse our shop:
www.electromaker.io/shop
Join us on Discord! / discord
Follow us on Twitter: / electromakerio
Like us on Facebook: / electromaker.io
Follow us on TikTok: / electromaker.io
Follow us on Instagram: / electromaker_io
Don't have time to watch the show? Listen to the Electromaker Show in podcast format on your favourite podcast platform! directory.libsyn.com/shows/vi...

[@richcurtin9540]

Really informative video

[@TheGunnarRoxen]

The main limiting factor of Pi alternatives is their support. If they get some decent support and community traction then they could be decent competition

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

They are decent competition, you just need to get enough knowledge and experience to know how to build an OS on them.
SBCs originally come from industrial applications, the Pi Foundation developed the Raspberry PI to also be a cheap computer to teach kids programming and to sit on electronic workbenches for hobbyists - the assumption in both those applications is that either you yourself know what you are doing or you have a teacher or tutor showing you what to do.
The RPi is an anomaly because the amount of support it has got has turned it into a "near consumer" device - the downside of that is that it has created a large community of "forever newbies" who don't actually know how to build computers or how to do their own independent testing or research ("the scourge of the millennial") - all they can do is use RPi and follow step-by-step videos with someone showing them what to do but without them understanding or learning anything.
This explains why so many of these newbies were whining constantly during the pandemic that they could not get hold of RPi's because that's the only platform they know how to do anything with and where there will usually be a video showing them exactly what to do.
On the other hand, computer engineers like myself who can build (Gentoo) Linux to run on anything had no shortage of Orange Pi's, Tinkerboards, Nano Pi's etc. to build computing solutions on during that same period - not to mention the countless "lemmings" rushing to upgrade to Windows 11 and dumping their old PC hardware for sale on "your favourite auction site".
The fact is that, as of today, the Raspberry Pi Foundation and most SBC manufacturers have completely lost direction when it comes to Joe Public users. When an SBC cost $35 back when the RPi emerged in 2011, it was not an issue if you purchased one to mess around with or give to a kid to learn programming and it got broken.
Now the cheapest Pi 5 is double that original $35 price, and that's before you've cased it, cooled it and got a power supply for it - that takes it to around $100 yet I can easily pick up a used 3rd or 4th Generation Core i5 or i7 SFF PC with at least 4GB RAM from Dell, HP or Lenovo on an auction site for half that cost.
There are ultimately two types of Pi users in the consumer space - the "forever newbies" who aren't interested in learning about computers and can just use a RPi when someone makes them a video showing them what to do, and engineers like me who see every computing project as something to be created from an optimal set of components of which the RPi is just one platform of many that can be used - and which, from a cost perspective, doesn't make a lot of sense to use at it's current price point.

[@Electromakerio]

@@terrydaktyllus1320 It's clear that SBCs, including Raspberry Pi, have distinct user bases with varying levels of expertise and different needs. The Raspberry Pi Foundation’s original intent was indeed educational and hobbyist-focused, which has led to a diverse community.
Your point about the current pricing of Raspberry Pi compared to older, more powerful used PCs is valid. As prices have risen, the cost-effectiveness of Pi for some applications has diminished, making other platforms more attractive for those with the skills to utilize them.

[@timballam3675]

features are good but support is bad!