[Noisebridge-discuss] Raspberry Pi project

[Andy Isaacson]

On Fri, Nov 14, 2014 at 09:15:07AM -0800, Danny Leavitt wrote:
> I just joined the mailing list, so hopefully a post like this is ok to the
> list. I'd like to start a project to transfer data from an SD card to an
> external hard drive. I'm a programmer and have never worked with hardware
> before. With a little research it looks like the Raspberry Pi B might be my
> best bet (2 USB I/Os, Linux and memory for buffer during the data transfer.
> Would this be the best choice? Anyone with experience manufacturing have an
> idea what it would vaguely cost to mass produce something like this with
> embedded linux and 2 USBs?

If you've never worked with hardware before, you don't know what "mass
production" means. :)

The rPi is a pretty decent cheap base to start from to prototype and
prove out the market for your project, and build the first thousand
units.  After you've determined that there is a market for the thing
then you can start talking designing circuits, getting PCBs fabbed,
injection molding plastics, sourcing components in bulk, etc.

> Also, are Raspberry Pi Bs available for purchase at Noisebridge? If not,
> anywhere in the city I can buy one?

There's no retail at Noisebridge (obviously if someone has a spare they
might be willing to sell it, but that is the exception rather than the
norm).  You can check Radio Shack, I know they sometimes have Arduino
and might have rPi nowadays, but everybody I know gets them on the
internet.  adafruit.com is where I shop (because they take bitcoin, they
ship *really* fast, and they are friends of Noisebridge).

-andy