> PrepperDisk is similar to a DIY, open-source project that started in 2012 called Internet in a Box and which has become popular in rural areas in developing countries where internet access is sparse. The idea is basically that you can carry around an external hard drive-sized, mini version of the internet with you that creates a local network your phone or laptop can access.
We are actually IIAB partners, we attribute to all the various OOS projects (Kiwix, IIAB)in our credits and comply with all the licensing. Our goal was just to make those packages polished as a consumer product and add newer content (some licensed and some commissioned ).
Curious why you went with a 512GB SD card for the Prepperdisk, instead of a usb drive? I guess it might make the enclosure bigger, but every RPi thing I have built has been undone by SD card corruption (unless I used the overlay filesystem).
Good question. Cost and ease of use were the primary drivers. It’s a read-heavy / write-light which means we came expect more life than some use cases. Alternatively we went with nvme on the 1TB/LLM model due to its heavier write profile. Making a backup of the SD card is wise though as a backup.
Good feedback. Most of our customers are shopping for a turnkey device and we try not to include prominent details that can confuse that use cases. But we are going to elevate the content for folks that would be interested (today).
I'm not really sure I understand how a "Prepper Box" is different from an external hard drive. Unlike the devices in TFA, which are meant for many students in a classroom using at once, this seems to be more of a single-person-looking-up-things concept.
Makes me think the prepper disk was maybe a rebrand of internet in a box without proper attribution?