[Andy2]

Originally Posted by archiver

At least Sinclair had some idea of demand and supply. Got a ZX80 kit for just £90 iirc and it didn't take long to arrive. Unlike the BBC B which I ordered immediately after reading the spec. very early on. I waited 9 months and still had to drive to Cambridge to get it!

Eben certainly got the price point right though.

Oooh, I don't know about that! I was a great Sinclair fan in the late 60's and 70's and some of the stuff they advertised took ages to appear. I waited weeks for my Project 60 stereo tuner, and the add-on RAM for the ZX81 took so long I went and bought a rival's product.
The Sinclair QL computer of the 80's was delayed and delayed while they worked out how to fit extra ROM, despite the QL being advertised for months previously.

[albertd]

Originally Posted by Andy2

....and the add-on RAM for the ZX81 took so long I went and bought a rival's product...

I went as far as building my own with a couple of 2114 1k chips doubling the RAM for me while I was waiting!

[dadioflex]

Originally Posted by Sad_BB_Addict

Bit of a deja vu for me, all this.
Tried to buy a BBC Micro when they were launched in 1981, curiously also called the Model A and Model B.
It arrived six months later.

I'm sure the model names are deliberate.

Okay, I'm interested in the project because of the people involved, and think the aim to get school kids programming is admirable... but (didn't see that coming, did you?) aren't PCs already pretty ubiquitous now?

I sorta want to pick one up because I'm having a nostalgia rush, remembering programming simple games in BBC Basic/6502 assembler a million years ago. I also used to use a compiled Basic on the Atari ST... I want to say GF Basic but can't remember for sure.

But in the last twenty years I've not felt the urge to program anything, though there are plenty of free tools out there.

I did recently try out Codecademy ( http://www.codecademy.com/#!/exercises/0 ) which takes you through structured exercises to teach the rudiments of javascript programming - kinda fun but you really only scratch the surface.

Hand a kid a pc on a card, that needs to have monitor, mouse, keyboard, storage etc etc plugged into it to work and I wonder how many will even bother to plug it all together.

Now, get a monitor manufacturer to build it into their screens and add a bluetooth adaptor - for maybe twenty quid on the price of a screen you have a computer you only need to add a BT KB + M to get working. That I'd like to see.

[dadioflex]

Originally Posted by Sad_BB_Addict

Grauniad http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...g-under-bonnet

"I would only buy one if it was called an Apple Pi and cost 100 times as much with half the technical specs."

PeteSaman wins the Grauniad comment thread.

[Andy2]

It's no good, I still can't see what this does (programming wise) that you can't do by calling up Windows BASIC on your PC and getting writing straight away!

[dadioflex]

Originally Posted by Andy2

It's no good, I still can't see what this does (programming wise) that you can't do by calling up Windows BASIC on your PC and getting writing straight away!

Windows hasn't come with BASIC pre-installed for around a decade or so. Also, if you want to raise a new generation of coders, they won't be using BASIC.

[and101]

Originally Posted by Andy2

It's no good, I still can't see what this does (programming wise) that you can't do by calling up Windows BASIC on your PC and getting writing straight away!

If you just want to write basic programs then this board will do exactly the same as a pc can do but if you want to do more advanced stuff like controlling external hardware then the Rasbery Pi comes with GPIO ports, UART, I²C bus and an SPI bus which you don't find on a standard PC.

[archiver]

Originally Posted by Andy2

Oooh, I don't know about that! I was a great Sinclair fan in the late 60's and 70's and some of the stuff they advertised took ages to appear. I waited weeks for my Project 60 stereo tuner, and the add-on RAM for the ZX81 took so long I went and bought a rival's product.
The Sinclair QL computer of the 80's was delayed and delayed while they worked out how to fit extra ROM, despite the QL being advertised for months previously.

I was just lucky then, or the delay pales to insignificance compared to the problems at Acorn. Perhaps there just wasn't the same level of demand for ZX80 kits.

Originally Posted by albertd

I went as far as building my own with a couple of 2114 1k chips doubling the RAM for me while I was waiting!

First memory upgrade I did was 1k to double the memory on a Tangerine Microtan. Cost me £18!

Originally Posted by dadioflex

I sorta want to pick one up because I'm having a nostalgia rush, remembering programming simple games in BBC Basic/6502 assembler a million years ago. I also used to use a compiled Basic on the Atari ST... I want to say GF Basic but can't remember for sure.

I can't remember either. The OS was 'TOS' though - Tramiel Operating System. You'd probably like Python. It's a very high level script language (so no compiling necessary) and seems very well thought out. It's even coming to Android soon (if not already there).

[dadioflex]

It wasn't GF Basic it was GFA Basic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GFA_BASIC

I couldn't let it lie - had to ferret out the name.

A buddy from way back wrote a 2 user MUD using it - one person could play on the keyboard locally, with another player connecting over the telephone. Back then that was like science fiction to me - mind blowing.

I actually bought a book on python programming ages ago but it's gathering dust somewhere... I see there's a whole series of Youtube videos giving a tutorial on using the Pi to programme with Python.

It's just, these days... who has the time? Exercising my brain would cut into my reality television viewing.

[Big Poy]

So will schools have to invest in all new HDMI monitors for this to take off?

[nomad2king]

Originally Posted by Big Poy

So will schools have to invest in all new HDMI monitors for this to take off?

It also has composite RCA video out. A cheap set of video/audio leads will do it.

[Gormond]

Originally Posted by Big Poy

So will schools have to invest in all new HDMI monitors for this to take off?

They could use DVI adapters.

[cnbcwatcher]

Originally Posted by alanwarwic

Now if this takes off big time I'm half expecting MS and Apple to go directly after making Linux go underground.

I'm a bit lost

[John259]

It would be interesting to cost up this device, plus case, plus keyboard, plus monitor, plus hard disc, compared to the price of a netbook or a small laptop.

[Stiggles]

Originally Posted by John259

It would be interesting to cost up this device, plus case, plus keyboard, plus monitor, plus hard disc, compared to the price of a netbook or a small laptop.

Pi:- £22
Keyboard:- £5
Mouse £5
No hard drive so use SD Card:- £10 for a decent size.
Most people either have an HD telly or a monitor so no cost there.

Total:- £42.

[dadioflex]

Originally Posted by Stiggles

Pi:- £22
Keyboard:- £5
Mouse £5
No hard drive so use SD Card:- £10 for a decent size.
Most people either have an HD telly or a monitor so no cost there.

Total:- £42.

Most people also have a PC or laptop, making their cost absolutely nothing.

Again, I'm not knocking the device but I just don't see the advantage this has either in schools or at home. Now if I was making industrial/embedded computers I'd probably be crapping myself.

[alanwarwic]

Yep, I was thinking the same. They will be insisting on massive discounts on Beagleboards etc.

I can really see many companies ordering several hundred of these at a time so lets hope Pi allocate 50% of production for UK sale.

The government is clueless but if they had got their act together this should be quickly chosen as standard issue to schools. Or other countries may get their orders in first!

[whoever,hey]

Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher

I'm a bit lost

I dont get it either.

[Rog]

For those who don't get it - as I mentioned before, stick it under the telly and use it as a media center, or at least for live streaming. Far cheaper than any alternatives.

[Gormond]

Originally Posted by Rog

For those who don't get it - as I mentioned before, stick it under the telly and use it as a media center, or at least for live streaming. Far cheaper than any alternatives.

It makes for a very low powered inexpensive test unit for students, especially the £16 version.

[s2k]

Originally Posted by alanwarwic

The government is clueless but if they had got their act together this should be quickly chosen as standard issue to schools. Or other countries may get their orders in first!

Agree completely, but they also need to provide plenty of resources to go with it and amend the curriculum accordingly or its just going to be even more public money down the drain.

[whoever,hey]

I get the product. I don't get the statement we quoted. Why would ms or apple be bothered by this product? I can't explain this better with edited quotes because I'm on my iPhone.

[Johnbee]

The media keep saying that it is for programming, but only say it runs Linux. Is it only programmable in machine code?

[Gormond]

Originally Posted by Johnbee

The media keep saying that it is for programming, but only say it runs Linux. Is it only programmable in machine code?

You program within Linux, using languages such as C++.

[JasonWatkins]

Originally Posted by Rog

For those who don't get it - as I mentioned before, stick it under the telly and use it as a media center, or at least for live streaming. Far cheaper than any alternatives.

If I eventually get one, that would be my use for it. Get a decent sized memory stick for it and you could download directly to it as well. Would never need to turn the desktop on.