I read it but I have no idea what it meant. I am very interested in getting a Pi4, so can some of you more knowledgeable folks help me understand what this means?
The reason is that the developers of the Pi4 made a mistake while designing the electronic circuit. They tried to design it themselves instead of copying it from the specification.
Somebody here said they were running into the maximum rated current for the port
>or a custom charger
Literally everyone would have complained
The fact that they shipped this reveals significant gaps in their engineering and QA processes.
That doesn't change the fact that USB-C is a mess, and that mess contributed to this failure.
The issue still lies with the Pi 4 for not having two CC resistors.
(This has always been my complaint anyway. The Pi Zero works great with any of the USB chargers you already own too many of, but the rest of the Pi line needs higher-spec chargers that most people need to buy as an add-on)
But it's not $35. You need an SD card and power at an absolute minimum (+$15), and then some way to connect to a screen and a keyboard (if just for a minute, to set up SSH and to fix it when it breaks.)
That's why I like the Pi Zero W. $10, and then $5 for a microSD card, and you can run it off of a laptop (or a powerbank, or an old phone charger, or a USB port.) It's beautiful. That leaves you with plenty of room to buy stuff like the PiOLED tiny display for $15, or a radio bonnet, or what have you.
It is a fair criticism to say that I am going too far, but I want to reuse the things I already have. I don't want to continue buying single-use things that will eventually be waste. It's not that I won't ever do it, but I now think very carefully about it before buying more electronic toys.