This looks cool, but when you can buy an Atom mini ITX motherboard for $25 more.. and need an ATX supply to run the FPGAs anyway..
-rph
"$25 more" is double the price.
So that's actually a lot more.
As for the ATX I'm sure plenty of people have lots of cheap PSUs laying around. I know I for one would be glad to sell all my spare PSUs off for $5 or less if it means I'm rid of the things.
That's a curious fallacy humans apply to cost-analysis. 2x more does not equate to "a lot more," but people do this all the time when considering which item to buy. For a very telling example of why that line of thinking is so wrong, consider buying a pair of earphones vs. a car -- assume you check prices at two different stores which aren't far apart (and they both carry cars and earphones):
First, you go to Store A. They sell XYZ earphones @ $12, YXZ cars @ $12,000.
Store B sells XYZ earphones @ $5, YXZ cars @ $12,100.
The majority of people will likely buy both the car and the earphones @ Store B because in their minds, they think "$100 isn't very much in the context of a $12,000 purchase," so they aren't willing to drive all the way back for such relatively meager savings. These same people, were they just buying earphones, and went to Store B first, would likely go back to Store A to buy the earphones, because in their mind "$7 is a lot in the context of a $12 purchase." But, your finances don't really give a damn where your money comes or go. There is no "context" -- it's just numbers. This odd way most humans calculate whether or not to purchase something is why salesmen are so successful at selling people garbage add-ons & warranties. The cost of them is a small amount in the context of the whole purchase, but stores know better, and can see huge profit boosts by selling people on the small stuff. (P.S. $50 in the context of a $6,000 FPGA farm purchase is a drop in the bucket
)
ETA: derp. I will read threads all the way through before posting so I don't give redundant information. I will read threads all the way through before posting so I don't give redundant information. I will read threads all the way through before posting so I don't give redundant information.
... So.... on-topic. This could be very exciting with a video adapter. It probably would be quite cheap to have these PCs shipped here, give it a unique aesthetic (I'm thinking a Hot Pockets box), then rebrand it as the Ghetto PC. Surf the web, watch videos, play basic (and I mean BASIC
) games, edit documents, read your email -- perfect for poorer & older people.