Why the Raspberry PI is Still Awesome
By now, I’m sure most of you have already heard of the Raspberry PI. If you haven’t, Google it.
For me, the Raspberry PI is an affordable and versatile computing device, ideal for a wide spectrum of users. I initially purchased my PI in the year 2015, and have used it over time for various different software and server development projects. Here are several great modern uses for the PI…
Desktop
The PI can be used as a normal desktop to perform normal day to day duties, such as checking E-mail, taking notes, etc. While the board does come with various ports and available hardware that can deem it a wireless device (i.e. connect a screen and integrated power supply and you can turn this bad boy into a wireless tablet), it can also be set up as a traditional desktop computer. An HDMI and multiple USB ports enable you to hook up this miniscule board to an external monitor, mouse an keyboard as you normally would with your other over-the-counter brand PC’s.
Dashboard
The PI can be used to serve as an always-on dashboard, powering an external monitor. I’ve used this setup to provide realtime visualizations and analytics of an online business I once set up.
Home Automation
The PI can be used as a home automation powerhouse. A friend and I installed and configured Hassbian to run on the PI. This build helped serve as a centralized home automation hub. We were able to control and automate when and what happened on connected home automation devices, from Smart TVs to lighting and voice assistants.
Automating Scripts
The PI can be used as a general server to run and automate scripts. I’ve personally employed the PI as a service to mine, scrape and load data. This proved to be a very low-cost but highly reliable ETL service for a variety of different projects.
Web Server
Saving the best for last, the PI can be used as a WLAN web server for testing purposes. I recently worked with a start-up where I had to develop on a local deployment rather than tampering with the production environment. It served as a great, low-cost and low resource intensive alternative to a traditional server or local deployment. I had it running in an always-on fashion, so rather than using my desktop pc as a server, or my macbook with a local server, the PI itself was the server, and I could connect remotely or access the files via FTP to work my magic from any machine of my choice within the same network.
The Verdict
To summarize, I’ve always hated raspberries. But the Raspberry PI is an extremely high-value product when you look at how much it costs and what its capabilities are, even in 2021 when nobody is talking about it anymore.