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Author Topic: £16 Computer- Raspberry Pi  (Read 6843 times)

thesaintv12

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£16 Computer- Raspberry Pi
« on: December 23, 2011, 01:53:23 PM »
This looks like a great idea. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16316439

David Braben was a computing hero of mine in the early days.  Elite (co written with Ian Bell) was what inspired me to get into programming.

From their site (http://www.raspberrypi.org) -

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK registered charity (Registration Number 1129409) which exists to promote the study of computer science and related topics, especially at school level, and to put the fun back into learning computing.

We plan to develop, manufacture and distribute an ultra-low-cost computer, for use in teaching computer programming to children. We expect this computer to have many other applications both in the developed and the developing world.

Our first product is about the size of a credit card, and is designed to plug into a TV or be combined with a touch screen for a low cost tablet. The expected price is $25 for a fully-configured system.

Provisional specification

700MHz ARM11
128MB or 256MB of SDRAM
OpenGL ES 2.0
1080p30 H.264 high-profile decode
Composite and HDMI video output
USB 2.0
SD/MMC/SDIO memory card slot
General-purpose I/O
Optional integrated 2-port USB hub and 10/100 Ethernet controller
Open software (Fedora, Iceweasel, KOffice, Python)

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BoL

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Re: £16 Computer- Raspberry Pi
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2011, 01:56:23 PM »
What a legend, I loved Elite

The processor and memory must be at steal prices to be able to retail at £16. I see there's no HD on it though, and 2 USB ports. With a keyboard and mouse you're going to struggle to plug in a USB memory stick. Anyways, it's a mind-blowing price for hardware that could probably get by fairly well.
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thesaintv12

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Re: £16 Computer- Raspberry Pi
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2011, 02:07:30 PM »
Quote from: BoL on December 23, 2011, 01:56:23 PM
What a legend, I loved Elite

The processor and memory must be at steal prices to be able to retail at £16. I see there's no HD on it though, and 2 USB ports. With a keyboard and mouse you're going to struggle to plug in a USB memory stick. Anyways, it's a mind-blowing price for hardware that could probably get by fairly well.

I think the restrictions are part of the fun though, it will hopefully get kids to use their brains to work around the problems.  They will learn about USB hubs for example because they have to. 
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jetboy

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Re: £16 Computer- Raspberry Pi
« Reply #3 on: December 23, 2011, 04:46:33 PM »
Quote
...you're going to struggle to plug in a USB memory stick.

There's always the SD/MMC slot. Apparently the Pi supports the SDHC format, and 32GB of storage can be had for under £30.

I'm going to pick up one of the model B ones (with ethernet) when they're out. I have no shortage of PCs, and I have no idea what I'm going to use if for, but it appeals to my inner geek. Maybe using it to run Elite on an emulator would be appropriate? :)
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thesaintv12

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Re: £16 Computer- Raspberry Pi
« Reply #4 on: December 24, 2011, 11:14:11 AM »
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Rooftop

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Re: £16 Computer- Raspberry Pi
« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2011, 11:27:56 AM »
I love this.  It's a real antidote for Apple led (and followed by everyone else) dumbing down of computing that has been going on.  I think that someone should donate a box of them to every school in the UK.  That way school leavers might stop thinking that a computer expert is the person with the biggest collection of "apps".
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