Raspberry Pi

[Frontpaw]

What's that all about then?

Mmmmmm Pie

Cheap as chips too!

Have no idea. Someone I know on facebook has just got one. Or just ordered one or something. Will find out what it is

The website is here.

I think it's a computer thingy that you need to program to do anything. So will get children to learn how to program. More here

It's basically an incredibly small computer which is also incredibly basic (hence the price). It's been designed for schools and enthusiasts to try and promote programming.

I really hope it succeed's but right now the project is in it's infancy and it's not for your average punter in the street.

I may get one to have a play around. I'm sure people will think of innovative uses for it.

For anyone who wants to get a very very cheap computer, don't be scared by the idea that this is supposed to teach kids to programme, it will also work as a completely normal computer (and a very capable one at that).

All you need to do is plug it into a 5v power supply (a power supply for a baby monitor will probably do), connect a mouse and keyboard, connect it to a TV and you have a fully working computer!!!

(you will need to download some free software (Linux) from the raspberry pi website and copy it to a camera memory card too, but that should be pretty easy).

It will not run windows, but will run firefox and a whole load of other free software, so there are no hidden costs.

It looked really interesting if I had the time

it does look interesting, hopefully a good tool for helping kids learn to program. I have no idea why kids dont do this in ict (or perhaps they do beyond year 7?)
I think dd will enjoy this, with some support from us. I have fond memories of writing programs on the spectrum+

The raspberry pi forum will have some links to different software languages supported by the device and some are specifically written with kids in mind.

I have spent some time with my 6 year old programming simple stuff in Ruby4kids. He had a secret spy code that he had written on paper which translated each letter of the alphabet into a code word. We sat down together and wrote a really simple bit of code that automatically converted words into his secret code - which he LOVED doing.

At the end of the day, you can do this with a PC or a Mac and don't need a Raspberry Pi, but you won't be too precious about your 6 year old mucking around with a £22 Pi (I get twitchy when the kids get their mitts near the laptop!)

No, they don't do programming in ICT in later years - which is why this initiative is so important!

I was wrong, they use a mini USB for the power supply (same connection that new Nokia smart phones use).

This little clip says it all well www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17192823

I think there is something quite cool about a back to basics machine that they can have full control over. Can't believe they dont do programming at school - its such a core part of how our society runs. I hope this initiative works!

The community seems very active and there is a lot of hype at the moment, which I hope continues.

When they sold the first 10 beta boards on ebay they were going for around £1000 each (which went back into the charity). I felt quite emotional when I found out that one of the boards had been bought for that sort of money by an anonymous person and then immediately donated to the british computing museum!

btw - we have had fun with this bbc emulator

Thanks for the link - I will have a look at that!

One other thing about the Raspberry Pi, is that is uses such a small amount of power. You can run it from 3 AA batteries for quite a long time, and if you couple a PV cell to it to keep it charged using the sunlight, you can keep it going indefinitely without even plugging it into the mains.

This means you could use it as a really cheap security system for your shed (webcam and some simple sensors, with wifi transmission to the house), and loads of other "cool" applications.

ooooo - I reckon I could turn that set up into a sunshine recorder. what a fab thought!

It's not taught in ICT because for whatever reason the powers that be decided it was more important to teach how to use a flipping spreadsheet and a word processor.

Programming is harder and involves stretching the kids. Something which wasn't a good idea when all you were interested in was how many A*'s you could churn out. Regardless of whether those skills were relevant or not. Or even deserved.

If we want to compete in a modern economy then programming skills are essential. We can't make rubber dog shit cheaper than China so we have to compete in the high value areas....like IT.

I learned to program myself when I was 10 using books from the library, magazine's and my trusty ZX Spectrum.

If the Raspberry Pi can do the same for modern kids then i'll be really pleased too.

As a consumer PC though it's never gonna work.

DH spent all of dinner time tonight talking about this so I can assume that it is going to be his next purchase. He is convinced he can "encourage" DD to get into computer programming, so she can crack the market with a niche product, make a few million bucks and we can buy that house we want that is out of our price bracket.

But seriously, we are getting one because we are geeks at heart and I think it is an excellent idea and can already think of loads of things I want to try with it!

DS1 wants one of these. I have no idea how any of it works. He is 11, I am 33. I am already redundant.

They've all sold out already though, right?

That BBC emulator link looks like fun!

Delighted at this. Modern ICT is an utter waste of time - state sponsored Microsoft Training. Kids should be learning word processing and Spreadsheets through English, Maths and Science.
ICT should be how computers work - hardware and software, coding, network infrastructure. I think it's rather beautiful that someone who learnt to programme on a BBC Micro (built by Acorn), has now created a modern reincarnation for 2012, and with ARM guts in it to boot! Full circle.
And if they brick it, you just copy a clean image onto the SD card and start again - not sitting for hours reinstalling Windows, IDEs, all the other software!

We've got a strong tech industry. 98% of the billion mobile phones sold globally last year had ARM intellectual property in them somewhere. Silicon Fen owns a ridiculous amount of the important IP behind the modern world, and the Tomb Raider franchise was born in Derbyfor heaven's sake! Most of those people learnt on a BBC Micro, and we've been failing to replace them ever since.

hear hear hunton.

DS was talking about this last night, he's planning to buy himself one next week. It's a great idea! (For all kids, not just my DS)

I totally agree about the lack of education about programming! This is an area we used to lead the world in, but now IT just seems to consist of word precessing, spreadsheets, and, if they're really lucky, database entry. I was thrilled when I found out DS3 was going to learn web design - then discovered what he was actually being taught was drag and drop desktop publishing in RTF with the page subsequently saved in HTML

I don't understand the point, why not just use a PC?.

£22 is a moot point, PCs have been around for so long it's easy to cobbler a few bits from old junk left around and just stick a Unix on it.

For schools I understand, for individuals who just want to mess around at home there is not point.

no point I mean

I've registered my interest... Very excited! I think it's a genius idea. . Have dabbled with Linux... Main languages I know from ye olde days are Turbo Pascal and Fortran. Know a bit of C++ too. But since leaving university my programming has been largely ignored except for a bit of tedious VBA.
I began dabbling with programming as a tween with my Commodore 64! I'm looking forward to messing around with it.