# What embedded computers are

Computers are constantly getting faster, cheaper, and more reliable. The reason behind this is because of Moore's Law.

[Moore's Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law) was from [Gordon Moore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Moore) noticing a predictable trend: the number of transistors that can fit into an integrated circuit doubles about every 2 years.

The implications of this have been huge. It means that for the same relative price, every part of a computer can be:

- Twice as fast as it was 2 years ago
- 4 times as fast as 4 years ago
- 8 times as fast as 6 years ago
- 32 times as fast as 10 years ago

This has meant, without exaggeration, that the average computer of 2000 is about 1,024 times faster than a computer made in 1980.

The nature of it means the best computers money can buy today will technically be obsolete before they fail. It also means computers get cheaper.

This has, however, slowed significantly. Once [processors](computers-cpu.md) started getting small enough, the electrons started interfering with each other. Due to heat management issues, processors can't run at an economical speed much faster than 4.8 MHz.

However, the "[latest and greatest](trends.md)" is still a *very* fleeting [social trend](trends.md) with the continued miniaturization and improvements in quality.

At this point, the only reason anyone really *needs* a new computer is for one of the following:

1. The user's [purpose](purpose.md) has expanded that they need a particularly powerful one to do something (most often for [playing games](computers-software-gamedev.md) or professional media creation).
2. They need to add a peripheral and the computer is so old that it can no longer support a modern [standard](standards-computers.md), even with a converter/adapter.
3. The user has money to burn on ego or [image](image.md) and want something faster or shinier than what they currently have.

## Cheap computers

Computers provide [*many* career options](jobs-2_goals-cs.md), and [some organizations](computers-embedded-manufacturers.md) decided to do something different with them. Instead of selling top-dollar computers, they shaved down as many features as possible to create the cheapest possible computer.

Even though they originally designed these low-spec computers for [teaching](education.md) and [experimentation](hacking.md) purposes, they created a *very* affordable general-purpose computer for anyone to use.

Due to the price point and accessibility for tinkering, there are [many potential uses](computers-embedded-ideas.md) for these embedded computers.

## The embedded computer's design

Both the Pi and Arduino have GPIO ("general purpose input-output) pins, which creates a modular way to connect peripherals.

## Linux likely required

No matter what you're poking around with, you *must* be willing to explore [Linux](computers-os-unix.md).

Firstly, the cost of a [Windows](computers-os-windows.md) license for that device is about as much as a low-tier Windows device.

Second, Windows requires so much processing power and memory [compared to most Linux distros](computers-os-winunix.md) that the computer would run very slowly, if it runs at all.