The Intel Edison: Linux Maker Machine in a Matchbox (Linux.com)

It's not really designed for get-up-and-go, though, is it. The lack of anything so bourgeois as USB or a/v output makes that clear.

On the other hand, the article makes a point of the RPi's lack of onboard storage. Because MicroSD cards are so much less convenient than entire breakout boards for typing things in and seeing the result.

It's a Linux Foundation "article" about a Linux Foundation member's latest product. How practical it is is irrelevant. This is just what happens instead of trade paperbacks now.

Price?

How about freedom, thanks! Libre designs, from cores to board, and of course floss code for every tiny piece.

And without those open cores built (or at least manufacturable) by > 1 supplier, how can we have anything resembling trust? CIA board hack leaks followed in short order by Intel's "microcode scanner" is just the tip o' the old iceberg of course..

$5? If you want to get the fully ready to prototype esp8266 huzzah from adafruit you'll pay $9, but you can get the bare esp8266 chips for about $1.30 per for a pack of 10 from aliexpress. They're even cheaper than you thought, if you don't mind them being shipped directly from china and waiting a week or two. I use these little gems for all sorts of things and they're wonderful.

They work very well as little mqtt sensors that I integrate with https://home-assistant.io/

The problem with that reasoning is that the Pi has predatory pricing and per-customer supply limits. If you decide you want to buy a dozen or two to use as more than a throwaway toy, Intel may look like a bargain. And it's not really 1/5th of the price once you add the required SD card purchase.

The ESPs on the other hand seem to be genuinely short in supply at times which is unfortunate.