Hello,
I am loving the Yun. I think Yun is the best Arduino board to date and will be influential in the DIY beginnings of the internet-of-things (IoT). However, there are a lot of competing products and open-source projects that have similar, over-lapping goals. I am hoping this post will start a thread of discussion, because I am curious where Yun fits into this whole world of connected machines and wonder if I am seeing the whole picture. I invite anyone who has interest in this topic to give their 2 cents in reply. Here are mine:
Yun: I think Arduino hit a home run with this device. The popularity of Arduino for connecting sensors and other data collecting electronics is its biggest asset. Then being able to bring any of this data to the web opens up all sorts of possibilities. Adding Linux and emphasizing python opens the door to many existing communities to contribute to the Yun's mission.
Raspberry Pi: I think this machine is great, but I believe it was designed to be Linux first and foremost and connecting sensors is not straightforward. I see it most as a learning device and tool for some cool Home Theater PC stuff. Perhaps Raspberry Pi's greatest contribution was proving that a low cost Linux box was possible and set the bar for performance and price point that other boards in this discussion are compelled to match.
BeagleBoneBlack: I think this is the closet competition to the Arduino Yun. It's weakness is that it does not have as much mind share as Arduino or Raspberry Pi. I think its strength is in using javascript and Node.js to create BoneScript. It looks to me like javascript will be the language of the internet for a long time to come and Node.js makes it possible to use javascript as both a front end and back end language; using the same language to integrate and manipulate the internet and electronics seems like a powerful idea to me.
Tessel: This is a new project that seems most similar to Beagle Bone Black. It too is based on Node.js and is positioning itself to be a leader of IoT by providing a lot of shields/capes/add-ons that should make adding a sensor only a matter of spending money. I don't really like that everything connects horizontally instead of vertically like the Arduino shields. I find it difficult to predict whether or not Tessel will take off or develop a cult following given how much competition is already in this space. Maybe Xively will buy them out.
SparkCore: Paul corrected my understanding of the SparkCore and now I see the SparkCore to be a much more interesting proposition, because it is a stand alone device with an ARM processor that can be programmed just like an Arduino using Wiring.
Here was my original interpretation:
SparkCore was a recent Kickstarter project that aimed to deliver a wifi package that could bring internet connectivity to any project, including Arduino, for $40. They raised a lot of money and have not yet shipped their product. I think this is a cool idea for connecting existing projects to the internet and this might be the cheapest and easiest solution to do so. However, if I was starting a new project the Yun is much more appealing, because the wifi is part of the system from the beginning and the price point is a better deal in the end, or at the very least competitive, when compared to buying an Arduino Uno and SparkCore separately.