Not everyone lives near a microcenter though. The pi zero W/2W comes out to like , $15+ ship + taxes and is more like $24.
>an almost insane complaint
That's not the complaint. Not everything is a "I can make x money back" preposition. The complaint is "A $10 item is costing me $25." It's costing me 2.5x the price it should be. Maybe you should see it from that POV.
You can also keep going on about kids starving right this instant while I complain about 2.5x price difference, it doesn't change a thing. a $10 pi zero 2 w still costs $25, if not more given it's almost never in stock and runs out so quickly.
>Having grown up in a world where 8 bit computers with 4-16k ram (and no storage) cost the equivalent of $1000
That doesn't mean much though, does it? I'm not comparing today's costs to back when you grew up. Nor am I saying today's costs costs are worse than when you grew up. If I was, you'd be right. I am not. I am just complaining about the price I have to pay due to scalping/availability vs price something is advertised at usually.
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That being said, I understand why shipping exists, but $5 overcharge for sake of it plus $7 to ship something this tiny is a bit iffy. They literally just pack it in a soft wrap and throw it in an envelope.
They are basically right, although I guess you should add "in much of the world".
I mean, for one or two devices, sure, whatever (as was my thought process when I bought them). But then I was like, "What if I add a pi zero to this, and this, and this!" and a $15 difference quickly becomes 'expensive.'
Genuinely curious.
As for Zero W 2s: In stock right now: https://chicagodist.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-2
Edit: it's a bit premature. Only Chicago Distributors have them in stock at the moment and they are limiting the orders to 1, which is frustrating because I only need 2.