Tree showing the evolution of computers used by the U.S. Army from the ENIAC. (source: Martin H. Weik on Wikimedia Commons) In this episode of the Hardware podcast, I talk with Dave Rauchwerk, founder and CEO of Next Thing Co., makers of C.H.I.P., the $9 computer.
Discussion points:
- How Next Thing Co. made the $9 computer work, using an Allwinner chipset, raw NAND memory, and input from Allwinner’s Sunxi community, which committed enough orders to make the price point viable.
- C.H.I.P.’s emergence from OTTO, a hackable animated GIF camera, in 2014.
- Rauchwerk’s favorite tools: the Wera socket wrench from Germany, and Rotring Rapid Pro pens.
Rauchwerk’s click spiral: the 1992 PBS documentary mini-series “The Machine That Changed the World,” about the history of computers up to that point. It included prescient predictions, including segments on artificial intelligence and virtual reality.