First, I'd like to point out that there must be some selling point, objectively speaking, when
2 million of something are sold. That is how many sold before November 1, 2013.
http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/5265To answer your question --
They are primarily aimed at the education market, to spark a new generation of programmers.
Moreover, there's certainly a "wow" factor in the device's small size vs. what it can do. Did you know that the Raspberry Pi has the graphics capability of the original Xbox?
But there's more to it -- there's a "standard hardware", "join the party", or "community" factor that makes this device very attractive. You can google "Raspberry pi" and know that everyone is talking about *your* device. There is no variation among them -- they're all standard. So if something runs on Raspberry Pi, you know you can run it.
That benefit is normally associated with game consoles, or things like the iPad.
Lastly, for engineers and tinkerers, you can do all sorts of things with a relatively powerful computer this small. Weather stations, remote webcams, security/monitoring, automatic coffee makers, balloons to the edge of space to take pictures, robotics, etc.
A lot of non-engineer, non-programmer adults buy these to be a cheap Media Center. There's an operating system specially designed for this. I tested mine out yesterday, and it does do a perfect job playing back movies at full resolution. It uses hardware to decode the video, rather than software (that's the "secret").
It's just neat that wherever you have a TV, you can have a complete computer if you just bring a keyboard, mouse, and this wallet sized device that weighs a couple ounces and has no moving parts. It doesn't get hot either. And since it has no fans, etc. it doesn't make the slightest noise.
I guess it has all the benefits of a tablet, only you can use any monitor or TV, as well as a regular keyboard and mouse. So you can do "real work" unlike a tablet, which is mostly for consumption. Also, tablets are usually more expensive than $65. (Don't get me wrong; this isn't going to replace a tablet. Tablets have their place. But the Pi has plenty of advantages.)
Another advantage over a tablet -- this thing does regular PC multitasking. You can have several windows open at once, just like a regular PC/Mac. Tablets (both Android and iOS) always "unload" programs you're not using, and you can't easily switch between programs. I still haven't figured out how to "copy/paste" text on my tablet.
Low electricity consumption is another bonus. A computer normally consumes 120 or more watts, which costs over a penny an hour to run @ 9 cents/kWh. This thing takes like 5 watts. So if you're trying to save a bit of electricity (or waste heat generated during the hot summer), it's a good way to surf the web, type up docuмents, and do basic computing.
I was able to browse my local network (a Windows XP machine, as well as a Linux machine) right out of the box, too. Everything "just works".
Going back to what I said earlier, the "game console" or "iPad" effect. Software engineers can really get things PERFECT when they don't have to worry about hardware variation. And with a standard device like this, there is no variation. So the Linux distributions *should* be more stable than the ones they make for desktop computers (which have an infinite variety of hardware).
And I don't know if you've ripped DVDs to files before, but you can fit a lot of complete movies on an 8 GB card (which is this thing's hard drive), and even more on a 16 GB card. Imagine taking 20 movies with you inside this little device instead of a stack of 20 DVDs (assuming you can find 20 movies worth watching! hahaha)
Another neat thing -- if you buy a second $10 SDcard, you can set up a whole second machine! One for work, one for home. Or one for Media Center, and one for regular computing. You just slide in the SDcard and plug in the adapter, and you boot into a whole different computer setup!
I guess I take this for granted being a Linux user, but usually having several copies of Windows, one for each person, would be expensive since Windows isn't free. But Linux is free, so having multiple copies "activated" or "being actively used" is no big deal.
I could see this being useful for homeschooling. Each child could have his own personalized "setup" -- any settings, profiles, progress, etc. would be saved to his "own" card. Just buy one SDcard for each child and they each have their own PC, as it were.
Topic: Posting this from my Raspberry Pi (Read 7591 times)