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A lot of the uses listed are cool, and seem worthwhile - but I thought the point of Raspberry Pi was to provide affordable computers for educational purposes?

A lot of the uses listed are cool, and seem worthwhile - but I thought the point of Raspberry Pi was to provide affordable computers for educational purposes? NAS, Gaming, Home automation, and other GuruPlug-type solutions are awesome. These would be great projects offering a lot of fun and inspirational documentaries. Nonetheless, I think a focus on the educational side is appropriate. How about: * Sites offering RPi-specific hardware instruction and troubleshooting * StackExchange-like RPi forums for different programming languages and/or use cases. * Inexpensive hardware bundles with input/output devices and kits for working with the bundles. The problem isn't going to be finding something to do with a tiny computer, it's making said computer as useful as possible for children and educators. Keep it useful and easy for them, that's a problem for a startup to address.

ricardobeat 15y ago
It's a valid point of view, but I don't think that should be restrictive. They said in the blog that the intention is to subsidize and enable educational uses by making it available for everyone and all kinds of projects. The educational package is coming in September.
- imperialWicket 15y ago
  True, and thanks for pointing it out. I'd just note that they seem to have their hands full at the moment, and I think documentation and teaching utilities will be lacking. The motivated and inspired will still be able to thrive, but the under-funded school may only be able to use what is easily available - and it seems like a good hacker-crowd-sourced batch of instructions could easily dwarf whatever they are planning to provide.
maayank 15y ago
What you say is good and true, but it's important to remember that even behind the subsidization aspect others allude to, more uses of RasPi -> more things the child receiving it can do -> more appealing the device will be in his eyes -> dedicate more time educating himself using it. (him/her of course) At least that was the general theme of my computer usage as a kid. Games were fun, but they also drew me to spend more time and educate myself about "controlling the beast".
- imperialWicket 15y ago
  I definitely agree, and I probably didn't qualify my statements enough. I just wanted to highlight some caution because a lot of times hackers want to really push hardware and technology to its limits. This is great, but to a newcomer, I think some of these projects can be so challenging that they end up driving users away. It's a valid point that having example uses/projects that cover the widest possible array of options is ideal for inspiring the most use.

ricardobeat 15y ago

It's a valid point of view, but I don't think that should be restrictive. They said in the blog that the intention is to subsidize and enable educational uses by making it available for everyone and all kinds of projects. The educational package is coming in September.

imperialWicket 15y ago
True, and thanks for pointing it out. I'd just note that they seem to have their hands full at the moment, and I think documentation and teaching utilities will be lacking. The motivated and inspired will still be able to thrive, but the under-funded school may only be able to use what is easily available - and it seems like a good hacker-crowd-sourced batch of instructions could easily dwarf whatever they are planning to provide.

maayank 15y ago

What you say is good and true, but it's important to remember that even behind the subsidization aspect others allude to, more uses of RasPi -> more things the child receiving it can do -> more appealing the device will be in his eyes -> dedicate more time educating himself using it. (him/her of course) At least that was the general theme of my computer usage as a kid. Games were fun, but they also drew me to spend more time and educate myself about "controlling the beast".

imperialWicket 15y ago
I definitely agree, and I probably didn't qualify my statements enough. I just wanted to highlight some caution because a lot of times hackers want to really push hardware and technology to its limits. This is great, but to a newcomer, I think some of these projects can be so challenging that they end up driving users away. It's a valid point that having example uses/projects that cover the widest possible array of options is ideal for inspiring the most use.