But what does that give you that a regular desktop can't provide?
The only novelty of a PI or a audrino is the pins.
The only novelty of a PI or a audrino is the pins.
That's. The. Point.
Instead of a closed down consumer hardware like a phone, tab, laptop, there's something that you can physically expand, read data from nature using it, and make changes directly in the physical world using code.
That's fantastic and exciting.
The pins are the point.
> there's something that you can physically expand, read data from nature using it, and make changes directly in the physical world using code.
You can't do this with _just_ a RPI though.
A RPI without any extra sensors or electronics is just a desktop.