Strongly agree here. Local SD storage IO aside, a Pi 4B 8GB is basically on par with a high end desktop I had in the mid-2000s.
That’s an insane amount of compute on something that can be sub-2W over POE, or 1.3W on WiFi.
Though for all the homelabbers out there, you probably have a NAS. Use Log2RAM, and present some ISCSI volumes to the Pi, and you’d be staggered with the very real work a Pi can do when not saddled by the SD card - without having to directly attach storage.
- -
I’d argue that for “IoT” stuff even Arduinos are overkill in terms of computing power. Granted, I realize this is the case functionally because of BOM optimization and making it forgiving (more power than needed) for beginners.
- -
Granted, going back to the original article: Yes, 1L form factors are nuts. Mac Minis are insane (but not cheap), and if you look at 35W Zen 3 Ryzen 7 PROs you can get similarly insane power cheaper if you need x86. But all the much older former office 1Ls are everywhere and offer ludicrous performance to hobbyists for pennies on the dollar, with (as mentioned by the article) sub-10W idle.
- -
Honestly, it’s just a great time to be a tinkerer. We’re drowning in ubiquitous, cheap compute.
That’s an insane amount of compute on something that can be sub-2W over POE, or 1.3W on WiFi.
Though for all the homelabbers out there, you probably have a NAS. Use Log2RAM, and present some ISCSI volumes to the Pi, and you’d be staggered with the very real work a Pi can do when not saddled by the SD card - without having to directly attach storage.
- -
I’d argue that for “IoT” stuff even Arduinos are overkill in terms of computing power. Granted, I realize this is the case functionally because of BOM optimization and making it forgiving (more power than needed) for beginners.
- -
Granted, going back to the original article: Yes, 1L form factors are nuts. Mac Minis are insane (but not cheap), and if you look at 35W Zen 3 Ryzen 7 PROs you can get similarly insane power cheaper if you need x86. But all the much older former office 1Ls are everywhere and offer ludicrous performance to hobbyists for pennies on the dollar, with (as mentioned by the article) sub-10W idle.
- -
Honestly, it’s just a great time to be a tinkerer. We’re drowning in ubiquitous, cheap compute.