How many households in this situation have an extra monitor lying around to plug this into
You just need a television. In a single household it wouldn't even necessarily need to be an extra television, unless it's some kind of truly abusive household where the kid's not allowed to pre-empt the family TV to attend school.
Of course, in a multi-kid household, yes - one screen per kid would be needed.
plus they'll need a separate webcam
Yes. Though, I'd be shocked if drivers were much of a hassle.
This new Pi form factor is kinda clever but surely a
$200-$300 chromebook or tablet is still significantly
more accessible.
Surely, but is the extra money more accessible?
And how does a desktop enable more advanced STEM learning
than a laptop?
It's not the form factor. It's the OS. A fully-open OS, versus a locked-down OS.
Of course, whether or not this matters depends on the kid and the curriculum. If all the kid's doing is some web-based online curriculum whose needs are perfectly serviced by a Chromebook, then yeah - an RPi device isn't magically going to grant them magical STEM learning powers by osmosis.
> It's not the form factor. It's the OS. A fully-open OS, versus a locked-down OS.
Raspberry Pi 400 is what ChromeOS/Chromebooks could have been if Google cared about making computing empower people, rather than seeing it as a tool to manipulate them through adverts.
Oddly I was at Goodwill and picked up a RCA tv with an HDMI input for $20. It is only 18", but will do for the Pi 400 I grabbed today. Cheap used and still useful monitors are out there.
Of course, in a multi-kid household, yes - one screen per kid would be needed.
Yes. Though, I'd be shocked if drivers were much of a hassle. Surely, but is the extra money more accessible? It's not the form factor. It's the OS. A fully-open OS, versus a locked-down OS.Of course, whether or not this matters depends on the kid and the curriculum. If all the kid's doing is some web-based online curriculum whose needs are perfectly serviced by a Chromebook, then yeah - an RPi device isn't magically going to grant them magical STEM learning powers by osmosis.