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[Disclaimer: I work at the BBC.] ...later on, the BBC made[0] the micro:bit[1], another £15 (well, around £15 back then for the V1) computer to inspire young p

[Disclaimer: I work at the BBC.] ...later on, the BBC made[0] the micro:bit[1], another £15 (well, around £15 back then for the V1) computer to inspire young programmers. Funny to think that little did the BBC know that they'd be creating their own cheap computer. [0]: Well, the BBC didn't _make_ it exactly — rather, the development and manufacturing was subcontracted to third-party companies (though some people at the BBC were involved in designing the prototypes — I've had a chat with one such person who did some prototype PCB fabrication in his own kitchen). The BBC came up with the initiative, though. [1]: https://microbit.org https://microbit.org

b800h 3y ago
Did the BBC miss an opportunity to major on the Raspi? For a lot of kids it could have been the only real computer in their house. Another BBC Computer Literacy Project would have been amazing, the micro:bit doesn't feel like it does the business.
- James-Livesey 3y ago
  As much as the Raspberry Pi is really great for computing education, in my personal opinion, I think the micro:bit does well in terms of setting it up and getting started with it, especially in a school environment when there'll be around 20-or-so of these devices all being used by students. With the Pi, you have to format the SD card and flash an OS to it, then plug in the peripherals such as the display, keyboard and mouse. While schools will likely have this equipment, having to reconnect all these devices from a school PC can be a chore, especially when it comes to the end of the lesson. Schools would likely also have to issue a lot of these peripherals alongside Pis for kids to use them as their only computer in the house, and that can get expensive. With the micro:bit, all you need is a computer (which most schools will have), a USB cable (supplied with micro:bits) and a connection to the internet to access the online IDEs. Granted, that does place some barriers to their use at home when kids don't have a companion computing device for coding on. Despite the micro:bit being limited as a microcontroller with a 5x5 pixel display and 2 user buttons, it does have a lot of on-board sensors that can bring a lot of potential opportunities to students in terms of creating physical projects that Raspberry Pis don't have built-in (you have to purchase external sensors, such as accelerometers, to match the functionality). That being said, the micro:bit does require a special connector to use its GPIO pins in a DIP format that can be connected to a breadboard (the Pi is better at this due to its GPIO header). And, while the Pi does give a full-blown Linux environment that would have been great for all learners to interact with, the immediacy and portability of the micro:bit does have some advantages for new learners. I was in fact in Year 5 back when the micro:bit was launched and given out to Year 5 school children, and now I'm an apprentice at the BBC (similar stories exist for the original BBC Micro); so I'd say in that respect that it was overall a good investment from the BBC :) That's my thoughts, anyway!
  - James-Livesey 3y ago
    With mentioning that while I was still interested in programming and even had a Pi before I got my micro:bit, I'd say that the micro:bit did introduce me to microcontroller development.
  - physicsguy 3y ago
    The issue with the MicroBit was that it wasn't really a well thought out initiative with multi year funding. They gave them out for free to one single school year, and then schools had to pay for them which meant practically that most schools didn't do anything with them because it wasn't worth the time investment. They were also late delivering, so didn't turn up at the start of the school year when they were supposed to but half way through the spring term. I helped do some training of teachers to use it in 2015 while I was doing my PhD, and they'd not even got the kit for their classes at that point.
  - aa-jv 3y ago
    With the Pi, you have to format the SD card and flash an OS to it, then plug in the peripherals such as the display, keyboard and mouse. While schools will likely have this equipment, having to reconnect all these devices from a school PC can be a chore, especially when it comes to the end of the lesson. Schools would likely also have to issue a lot of these peripherals alongside Pis for kids to use them as their only computer in the house, and that can get expensive. These are valuable computing skills that should be being taught to future programmers in their teenage years, already. The 'hassle' you claim is really the process of learning that should be promoted, not avoided because its 'too difficult'. The micro:bit is entirely a specialist computer for which - yes, a basic set of computer fundamentals will be learned - but those same principles are equally attainable with the rPi, with the added benefit that students will also gain operator skills that are vital to their ability to be productive in this field - whereas the micro:bit will leave them with a lot of unlearned essentials. As a parent (and 40+ years of experience systems-software developer) I would much rather my kids gain their computing expertise with a standard, easily attainable raspberry Pi platform than with the proprietary, not-standard micro:bit. Sure, they'd get some embedded experience - but that is possible with the rPi too. The micro:bit is proprietary. The raspberry Pi, not so much (in terms of accessibility/availability). I think micro:bit is a step backwards for computer education.
- mhh__ 3y ago
  It could've been if it was done now but the "zoomers have never used a real computer" phenomenon is slightly after peak raspberry pi
- nsteel 3y ago
  I'd love to know what they didn't team up.
elFarto 3y ago
It wasn't the first computer they've made, or at least had their name on[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro
FerretFred 3y ago
I picked up a couple of micro:bits out of curiosity and was impressed by the build quality. The after-market eco-system was impressive too, and I wrote a couple of projects to see what I could do with them. My favourite has to be the Wireless MQTT client (https://petergarner.net/notes.php?thisnote=20220502-BBC+micro%3Abit+as+a+Wireless+MQTT+Client.html https://petergarner.net/notes.php?thisnote=20220502-BBC+micr...) which used a bolt-on IOT module card. Prior to that I'd installed a micro:bit in a small leakproof sandwich box bolted to a drainpipe which transmitted light level and temperature value to my computer inside the house (https://petergarner.net/notes.php?thisnote=20200125-Experiments+with+IoT+LoraWAN.html https://petergarner.net/notes.php?thisnote=20200125-Experime...). Hats off to whoever designed the device as it withstood sub-zero and summer temperatures without faltering. Great times!
darkclouds 3y ago
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b800h 3y ago

Did the BBC miss an opportunity to major on the Raspi? For a lot of kids it could have been the only real computer in their house. Another BBC Computer Literacy Project would have been amazing, the micro:bit doesn't feel like it does the business.

James-Livesey 3y ago
As much as the Raspberry Pi is really great for computing education, in my personal opinion, I think the micro:bit does well in terms of setting it up and getting started with it, especially in a school environment when there'll be around 20-or-so of these devices all being used by students. With the Pi, you have to format the SD card and flash an OS to it, then plug in the peripherals such as the display, keyboard and mouse. While schools will likely have this equipment, having to reconnect all these devices from a school PC can be a chore, especially when it comes to the end of the lesson. Schools would likely also have to issue a lot of these peripherals alongside Pis for kids to use them as their only computer in the house, and that can get expensive. With the micro:bit, all you need is a computer (which most schools will have), a USB cable (supplied with micro:bits) and a connection to the internet to access the online IDEs. Granted, that does place some barriers to their use at home when kids don't have a companion computing device for coding on. Despite the micro:bit being limited as a microcontroller with a 5x5 pixel display and 2 user buttons, it does have a lot of on-board sensors that can bring a lot of potential opportunities to students in terms of creating physical projects that Raspberry Pis don't have built-in (you have to purchase external sensors, such as accelerometers, to match the functionality). That being said, the micro:bit does require a special connector to use its GPIO pins in a DIP format that can be connected to a breadboard (the Pi is better at this due to its GPIO header). And, while the Pi does give a full-blown Linux environment that would have been great for all learners to interact with, the immediacy and portability of the micro:bit does have some advantages for new learners. I was in fact in Year 5 back when the micro:bit was launched and given out to Year 5 school children, and now I'm an apprentice at the BBC (similar stories exist for the original BBC Micro); so I'd say in that respect that it was overall a good investment from the BBC :) That's my thoughts, anyway!
- James-Livesey 3y ago
  With mentioning that while I was still interested in programming and even had a Pi before I got my micro:bit, I'd say that the micro:bit did introduce me to microcontroller development.
- physicsguy 3y ago
  The issue with the MicroBit was that it wasn't really a well thought out initiative with multi year funding. They gave them out for free to one single school year, and then schools had to pay for them which meant practically that most schools didn't do anything with them because it wasn't worth the time investment. They were also late delivering, so didn't turn up at the start of the school year when they were supposed to but half way through the spring term. I helped do some training of teachers to use it in 2015 while I was doing my PhD, and they'd not even got the kit for their classes at that point.
- aa-jv 3y ago
  With the Pi, you have to format the SD card and flash an OS to it, then plug in the peripherals such as the display, keyboard and mouse. While schools will likely have this equipment, having to reconnect all these devices from a school PC can be a chore, especially when it comes to the end of the lesson. Schools would likely also have to issue a lot of these peripherals alongside Pis for kids to use them as their only computer in the house, and that can get expensive. These are valuable computing skills that should be being taught to future programmers in their teenage years, already. The 'hassle' you claim is really the process of learning that should be promoted, not avoided because its 'too difficult'. The micro:bit is entirely a specialist computer for which - yes, a basic set of computer fundamentals will be learned - but those same principles are equally attainable with the rPi, with the added benefit that students will also gain operator skills that are vital to their ability to be productive in this field - whereas the micro:bit will leave them with a lot of unlearned essentials. As a parent (and 40+ years of experience systems-software developer) I would much rather my kids gain their computing expertise with a standard, easily attainable raspberry Pi platform than with the proprietary, not-standard micro:bit. Sure, they'd get some embedded experience - but that is possible with the rPi too. The micro:bit is proprietary. The raspberry Pi, not so much (in terms of accessibility/availability). I think micro:bit is a step backwards for computer education.
mhh__ 3y ago
It could've been if it was done now but the "zoomers have never used a real computer" phenomenon is slightly after peak raspberry pi
nsteel 3y ago
I'd love to know what they didn't team up.

elFarto 3y ago

It wasn't the first computer they've made, or at least had their name on[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro

FerretFred 3y ago

I picked up a couple of micro:bits out of curiosity and was impressed by the build quality. The after-market eco-system was impressive too, and I wrote a couple of projects to see what I could do with them. My favourite has to be the Wireless MQTT client (https://petergarner.net/notes.php?thisnote=20220502-BBC+micro%3Abit+as+a+Wireless+MQTT+Client.html https://petergarner.net/notes.php?thisnote=20220502-BBC+micr...) which used a bolt-on IOT module card. Prior to that I'd installed a micro:bit in a small leakproof sandwich box bolted to a drainpipe which transmitted light level and temperature value to my computer inside the house (https://petergarner.net/notes.php?thisnote=20200125-Experiments+with+IoT+LoraWAN.html https://petergarner.net/notes.php?thisnote=20200125-Experime...). Hats off to whoever designed the device as it withstood sub-zero and summer temperatures without faltering. Great times!

darkclouds 3y ago

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