For me, the Arduino's appeal and value is in not having an operating system, and just how directly you are dealing with the hardware. Your C code is the only thing running, and it talks directly to the pins. It's crazy easy to get started, it has a ton of potential for cool projects, but is so limited that your projects are manageable and you're forced to be creative. You only get a few K, so you get to be clever and kludgy and do whatever it takes as fast as you can make it.
I really like that bigger better tiny hobby computers are being developed, but the things you mentioned - running Linux & many different languages - don't appeal to me the same way Arduino does. Adding modern day benefits like tons of memory or 3D display means I'll be just programming, like I would at my day job developing console games. With the Arduino, on the other hand, I'm always hacking.
I really like that bigger better tiny hobby computers are being developed, but the things you mentioned - running Linux & many different languages - don't appeal to me the same way Arduino does. Adding modern day benefits like tons of memory or 3D display means I'll be just programming, like I would at my day job developing console games. With the Arduino, on the other hand, I'm always hacking.