News Argon40 teases the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 powered Upton One laptop

So even Radpberry Pi nerds are cult of celebrity groupies these days? That’s crazy, especially considering Raspberry Pi heavily favored business orders over the “democratization of computing” when the plague crunch hit.
 
I can't agree that putting a Raspberry PI compute module in a laptop chassis "is a good idea", beause they are terribly inefficient.

You know that, most people know that, and quite a few RP enthusiasts will never care.

But there is always someone new, who doesn't. And who could be mislead into thinking that this might actually be good alternative to a laptop designed for mobile use.

So please add a bit of a caveat for the naive fist comers.
 
So even Radpberry Pi nerds are cult of celebrity groupies these days? That’s crazy, especially considering Raspberry Pi heavily favored business orders over the “democratization of computing” when the plague crunch hit.
Put yourself in Upton's shoes and try to seriously argue both cases: let us know what you come up with.

It was never an easy decision to make, a true choice between pest and cholera and I doubt that anyone in his place would ever feel good about any path taken.
 
  • Like
Reactions: usertests
Put yourself in Upton's shoes and try to seriously argue both cases: let us know what you come up with.

It was never an easy decision to make, a true choice between pest and cholera and I doubt that anyone in his place would ever feel good about any path taken.
I agree that he had to make a super difficult decision. I just know I would’ve swung the opposite direction if I’d built my company on “democratizing computing”. Just has to say “We’re sorry if some companies built their business model around our products but I’m not screwing my core audience to support businesses.”.
 
I agree that he had to make a super difficult decision. I just know I would’ve swung the opposite direction if I’d built my company on “democratizing computing”. Just has to say “We’re sorry if some companies built their business model around our products but I’m not screwing my core audience to support businesses.”.
And he might argue that democratizing computing isn't about giving everyone the chance to use PIs as toys, but enabling the poor to compete with the rich with technology.

Ultimately business is about giving people a livelihood and that is what he's trying to enable.

Your indignation might actually be more warranted if he'd privileged the rich, e.g. those who buy PIs as toys to water their potted plant at home instead the business which uses it to controlling the watering the fields in a poor country.

And the first he has to care about are the people he employs: will they do better if businesses adopt PIs, too? Using the knowledge and skills people learned from their PIs at school? Democratising is about spreading everywhere.

I understand your frustration, but I believe your perspective on his decisions is a little too close to your navel.

I know that there is tons I'd like them to do differently. But then I think about why my wishes may not be aligned with their vision... and choose another toy to play with.
 
And he might argue that democratizing computing isn't about giving everyone the chance to use PIs as toys, but enabling the poor to compete with the rich with technology.

Ultimately business is about giving people a livelihood and that is what he's trying to enable.

Your indignation might actually be more warranted if he'd privileged the rich, e.g. those who buy PIs as toys to water their potted plant at home instead the business which uses it to controlling the watering the fields in a poor country.

And the first he has to care about are the people he employs: will they do better if businesses adopt PIs, too? Using the knowledge and skills people learned from their PIs at school? Democratising is about spreading everywhere.

I understand your frustration, but I believe your perspective on his decisions is a little too close to your navel.

I know that there is tons I'd like them to do differently. But then I think about why my wishes may not be aligned with their vision... and choose another toy to play with.
He did favor the rich over the poor. Tons of small companies didn’t get what they needed while the bigger companies always got most of what they wanted. He absolutely favored his network of buddies over small mom and pop businesses. It’s not really a big deal to me. The projects I use them for can run on most any modern board with Linux and GPIO. I just think the dude is full of sh!t. I was also disappointed that their new board didn’t surpass an Orange Pi for power or add nvme support to the base board without having to use an extra board. When my GF wanted a “miniature PS2 with just a few games” for her bedroom TV, I had zero issues selecting an Orange Pi over a Raspberry Pi. In fact, I put Android on it and she can actually use it.