Re: This is good.
I'm already somewhat annoyed by the use of 5v on a micro USB port, given the limitations of the port itself for carrying current, which thanks to Ohm's law, has to be greater than if a higher voltage had been used, and makes the system more vulnerable to reduced power thanks to the high resistance leads and connectors that are to be found too often on the typical cheap Chinese power supplies people will be using.
That isn't actually Ohm's law, but simply an inevitable consequence of the way the units are defined, i.e. J/C (volts) times C/s (amps) inevitably cancels to J/s (watts), no scientific law, it's just maths.
I do understand the concern about the power connection but a barrel connector wouldn't be my first choice, I'd prefer the option of something with a positive lock that can't simply be tugged out. Powering using 5V attached to the GPIO port may be an option, how practical that is depends on your application. As for the supply voltage, I suspect that comes down simply to the cost objectives. Dropping the power down from e.g. 12V means either a switching (cost) or a linear (heat!) regulator and either do not allow for the use of a standardised commodity power supply the user may well already have lying around.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
