"Billed as the $35 computer, the Raspberry Pi, has taken the DIY world by storm. It's a cool project system but it's no $35 computer."
I agree that the little computer has taken the world by storm, but I have to point out that myRaspberry Pi cost me $43 after shipping. This is a far cry from Hess' $150. He complains about having to buy all the peripherals for a Raspberry Pi: "4GB (at least) SD card, a mini USB power adapter, an HDMI cable, RCA cable, RCA to S-Video adapter" and on and on.
The funny thing is that I had a 4 GB SD card from an old camera that I sold and I have about 4 power supply adapters from various phones and what-not. And that's it. You don't need anything else to start having fun with a Raspberry Pi. I'm sure you already have another computer so you can just fire up an SSH session and go to town. You don't need HDMI cables, cases, cases for you cases, a doilies, raspberry pie, or anything else you can find that is related the Pi.
The only thing I would add to my Raspberry Pi right now is a USB wireless radio. Oh no, now it has cost me $52!