My RaspberryPi has been a few things since I bought it (a print server, a file server, a web server) but I never really settled on anything and for the past couple of months it has sat in a drawer.
I've now just re-purposed it as an Airplay speaker in less than an hour for no extra cost.
I will probably purchase a smaller USB WiFi dongle (@£8.99 on Amazon) but even including the cost of the Raspberry Pi (~£34 total), that's less than half the cost of an Airport Express (£80).
On top of that, who doesn't like to tinker?
Oh, and if I get bored, I can always reuse the hardware for something else.
Probably the same reason why I garden instead of buying from the grocery store, or why I grind my own meat for my burgers. Sometimes, if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.
Anyways, apart from AirPlay (AirPort Express), my RPi is performing XBMC / media center capabilities (Apple TV), streaming network backup (Time Capsule), motion-activated security camera, software-defined radio and X10 home automation. I will shortly be interfacing the GPIO to an SSR and thermocouple so I can use it as a PID for beer brewing and smoking fish. For $35 and 2w of power, that's pretty good.
Cool diss, hope it made you feel better about yourself I guess? Anyway, I simply pointed out that the author framed this as a cost saving tool when it really isn't. Say its a fun hack and I have no problem, but to call this thing a moneysaving hack when it doesnt save a whole lot of money and produces a lower quality device. But hey, your one line diss sounds better so why bother with logic.