3 ms·

I want to use them as cheap embedded systems that without KVM.

by eugenejen 15y ago

JoeAltmaier 15y ago
Right, that's the primary use in my mind. Not gonna be much use to a primary school student.
- gravitronic 15y ago
  It will be all in the software. Make this thing boot into a python IDE with pygame installed and you have this generation's QBASIC.
  - tlear 15y ago
    I would prefer lua, but completely agree I am buying one for every kid of every relative or friend of mine age 3+
- ctdonath 15y ago
  Au contraire, it's perfect for kids. First off (as a parent of two toddlers) it's CHEAP; if a kid manages to destroy it (the little entropy generators kids are), so what - get another. Next, it starts so simple (and CHEAP) that you'll have no qualms about running simple cheap software on it. Then, you'll think nothing of putting money into a computer for any/all TV in the house (I'm waffling about a Mac Mini, but a RasberryPi is a no-brainer). So there's an easy, cheap, nigh-unto-disposable (we're talking kids here) computer that can run powerful stuff yet you'll have no qualms about devoting to a young mind. BTW: I started programming in 4th grade, with printing terminals and acoustic-coupled dial-up mainframes. A few years later I had a then-equivalent of the RasberryPi: Dad soldered together a $100 Sinclair ZX-80 (likewise, the screen was your TV), and I programmed that thing darn near non-stop. Heck yeah the RasberryPi is "gonna be much use to a primary school student". Can't wait to get my kids going on it.
  - JoeAltmaier 15y ago
    Sounds idyllic; but what are you going to run? The latest Office suite? Photoshop? Whatever you answer, the cost dwarfs the device, and swamps its processing power. So, we're talking about teaching kids to use some special kid-computer with software/tools they will never encounter ever again. What tools are these? A BASIC interpreter?
    - vidarh 15y ago
      > Whatever you answer, the cost dwarfs the device, and swamps its processing power. Linux costs 0, and runs on far less capable devices than the RaspberryPi.
      - colomon 15y ago
        And is already ported: "What Linux distros will be supported at launch? Debian, Fedora and ArchLinux will be supported from the start." (Raspberry Pi FAQ)
      - JoeAltmaier 15y ago
        So, Photoshop for linux? Mac dev tools? What apps?
        vidarh 15y ago
        Why don't you go look up Linux, that way I don't have to list tens of thousands of applications, including dozens of language implementations. If you want someone to learn software development, or computing in general, Linux is a far better starting point than Windows or OS X.
        JoeAltmaier 15y ago
        Yeah, yeah. Lots of open-source half-baked projects with no support and incomplete features. Advertised as "photoshop replacement" or "complete IDE" but turns out, missing critical features, crash right and left, won't work on modern hardware etc etc. Been down that road, burned more times than I can count. I wish it were true, but I don't fool myself into believing it.
- nitrogen 15y ago
  I bought my first PC when I was eight (at a very discounted price from my parents). I already knew how to do trivial graphics programs in Logo. I had a "100 in one" electronics kit as well, but didn't have anyone to teach me how to read schematics. So, I got the example circuits running by following the numbered wiring sequences printed below the schematic. I learned how to use DOS before that by watching the output of my parents' first computer as it ran through AUTOEXEC.BAT (I was insanely excited when I typed "prompt SpSg" into a command line and the computer actually did something -- later on I figured out that the S should have been a $). By the time I was 13 I was buying scrap computer parts, assembling working computers, and selling them. Don't underestimate the potential of children.

I want to use them as cheap embedded systems that without KVM.

JoeAltmaier 15y ago

Right, that's the primary use in my mind. Not gonna be much use to a primary school student.

gravitronic 15y ago
It will be all in the software. Make this thing boot into a python IDE with pygame installed and you have this generation's QBASIC.
- tlear 15y ago
  I would prefer lua, but completely agree I am buying one for every kid of every relative or friend of mine age 3+
ctdonath 15y ago
Au contraire, it's perfect for kids. First off (as a parent of two toddlers) it's CHEAP; if a kid manages to destroy it (the little entropy generators kids are), so what - get another. Next, it starts so simple (and CHEAP) that you'll have no qualms about running simple cheap software on it. Then, you'll think nothing of putting money into a computer for any/all TV in the house (I'm waffling about a Mac Mini, but a RasberryPi is a no-brainer). So there's an easy, cheap, nigh-unto-disposable (we're talking kids here) computer that can run powerful stuff yet you'll have no qualms about devoting to a young mind. BTW: I started programming in 4th grade, with printing terminals and acoustic-coupled dial-up mainframes. A few years later I had a then-equivalent of the RasberryPi: Dad soldered together a $100 Sinclair ZX-80 (likewise, the screen was your TV), and I programmed that thing darn near non-stop. Heck yeah the RasberryPi is "gonna be much use to a primary school student". Can't wait to get my kids going on it.
- JoeAltmaier 15y ago
  Sounds idyllic; but what are you going to run? The latest Office suite? Photoshop? Whatever you answer, the cost dwarfs the device, and swamps its processing power. So, we're talking about teaching kids to use some special kid-computer with software/tools they will never encounter ever again. What tools are these? A BASIC interpreter?
  - vidarh 15y ago
    > Whatever you answer, the cost dwarfs the device, and swamps its processing power. Linux costs 0, and runs on far less capable devices than the RaspberryPi.
    - colomon 15y ago
      And is already ported: "What Linux distros will be supported at launch? Debian, Fedora and ArchLinux will be supported from the start." (Raspberry Pi FAQ)
    - JoeAltmaier 15y ago
      So, Photoshop for linux? Mac dev tools? What apps?
      - vidarh 15y ago
        Why don't you go look up Linux, that way I don't have to list tens of thousands of applications, including dozens of language implementations. If you want someone to learn software development, or computing in general, Linux is a far better starting point than Windows or OS X.
        JoeAltmaier 15y ago
        Yeah, yeah. Lots of open-source half-baked projects with no support and incomplete features. Advertised as "photoshop replacement" or "complete IDE" but turns out, missing critical features, crash right and left, won't work on modern hardware etc etc. Been down that road, burned more times than I can count. I wish it were true, but I don't fool myself into believing it.
nitrogen 15y ago
I bought my first PC when I was eight (at a very discounted price from my parents). I already knew how to do trivial graphics programs in Logo. I had a "100 in one" electronics kit as well, but didn't have anyone to teach me how to read schematics. So, I got the example circuits running by following the numbered wiring sequences printed below the schematic. I learned how to use DOS before that by watching the output of my parents' first computer as it ran through AUTOEXEC.BAT (I was insanely excited when I typed "prompt SpSg" into a command line and the computer actually did something -- later on I figured out that the S should have been a $). By the time I was 13 I was buying scrap computer parts, assembling working computers, and selling them. Don't underestimate the potential of children.