[freeone3000]

I think the Pi is for people who want to run Linux and also be able to direct-drive voltage pins. Cheap intel systems are way better at running linux, and esp32s are way better at driving the voltage pins, but the former doesn’t offer easy hardware-pin accessibility through python and the latter has you figuring out which filesystem library to compile into your binary.

[margalabargala]

> the latter has you figuring out which filesystem library to compile into your binary

For what many people are doing with them, ESPHome has simplified the process to programming an ESP32 to do what they want down to nearly nothing.

"Running Linux and being able to direct-drive voltage pins" is certainly still an existing market, but it is rapidly being encroached upon in both directions.

[lll-o-lll]

Yes! This is the space PI is still best for, in my opinion. The intel SBC achieve GPIO by adding a microcontroller to the board (as far as I know), but with PI you can drive those pins directly.