Depending on what you want to experiment with, a Mac Mini might be far more cost-productive for most people wanting to play with software and servers.

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pedro_caetano 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

A large part of the original Ethos of the Raspberry Pi foundation is to bring back some of the technology fascination and allure that children in 1980's Britain experienced with the BBC Micro and Acorn computers (which ultimately led to today's ARM).

We can assume the 500 is meant more as a nostalgia 'one-computer-for-every-child' design more so than a powerful work house for developers.

	▲	fsckboy 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		yes, but without us, who will teach these children to piss and moan about everything!? this device would make a very practical workstation for developing Raspbery Pi software for little embedded RPi projects.

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pjmlp 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Sure, where can I get a new one at comparable Pi prices?

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threatofrain 7 hours ago | parent [-]

If you're buying Raspberry Pi's, either the form factor or power requirements really worked for you, such as if you're in robotics, IoT sensors, or hardware-adjacent stuff, or you knew you were spending a little bit extra for the hobby space.

That includes all the people setting up home labs for their own learning. An M1 is about $250 refurbished under Amazon's protection program. If you intend to use this as a hybrid device, which many frugal people do, then you'll also likely be using this as a desktop device connected to a monitor. The cost of electricity will rival your purchase in a year.

If you're gonna buy a throwaway computer for a child to experiment with, IMO a used Mac Mini delivers unbelievable price efficiency as a general-purpose computer. Use it as a server, use it for programming, use it for homework.

	▲	pjmlp 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I asked for a new one, and I am not going to pay such prices for 2nd hand stuff, assuming they exist at all, cheapest is 320 € on Amazon Germany.