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David Braben has been appointed OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list

77 points by RobAley 12y ago

joezydeco 12y ago
So reading the headline I thought this honor was going to Mr Upton, but instead it's someone else from the RPi foundation? The article seems to infer his fame comes more from Elite than from his educational work on Raspberry Pi. For that matter, where are all the success stories about RPI in the educational arena? For every ten 'here's a cat food dispenser/FM Transmitter/drone tracking system' made from an RPi" stories, there should be at least one decent educational story. I've seen very little.
- UweSchmidt 12y ago
  It seems that this https://twitter.com/chrisdymond/status/477458249122586624/photo/1 https://twitter.com/chrisdymond/status/477458249122586624/ph... would be the success they were shooting for, and it seems the idea of getting the Raspberries in the hands of kids was a main goal for the RPi team. If we're a little more generous with our definition, a Raspberry-powered cat food dispenser, or even just the idea of having a general-purpose personal computer is educational in itself, no?
- buster 12y ago
  Of course, his fame comes from Elite, where else? David Braben was a well-known name long before the RPi. Nevertheless, i own a RPi and i'm eagerly waiting for the next Elite.
  - joezydeco 12y ago
    Then it's a bit disingenuous to headline this honorary award as being from the success of the Raspberry Pi in the educational arena. If the Brits want to give an award to Braben for his work in video games that's cool. It's a step forward in the acknowledgement that video games are a part of modern culture. But by that token, I'm nominating Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar for the Presidental Medal of Freedom for their work on Defender, Stargate, and Robotron:2084.
    - dang 12y ago
      We swapped the headline for a bit of the subtitle.
    - buster 12y ago
      By that logic noone can ever be rewarded for his work outside of his field. Of course he can be rewarded for his work on RPi, which had more impact on mankind then some video game from 30 years ago.
- shutupalready 12y ago
  > where are all the success stories about RPI in the educational arena You're right; I don't see success stories in education. But so what? The RPi is a huge success as a prototyping tool, as a platform for one-off devices or small productions runs, and as a hacker appliance (in the good sense of "hacker"). So what if the Raspberry Pi Foundation's original intention was to advance computer education? They achieved success in a different and highly positive way. There's nothing to regret.
unwind 12y ago
I assume OBE here means Order of the British Empire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_British_Empire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_British_Empire).
- chrisseaton 12y ago
  Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, which is one rank within the Order of the British Empire.
- jpt1 12y ago
  Yes that's correct
mariusz79 12y ago
Good for him, but I don't get why in our day and age anyone would care about meaningless titles like this. Why do intelligent, educated people accept still play this whole sir/knight/duke/price/king charade?
- migstopheles 12y ago
  Reductio ad absurdum: everything is meaningless, so why do intelligent, educated people do anything? I find views like this pointlessly cynical. The man has been done something good for society, why on earth shouldn't he accept the acknowledgement?
  - mariusz79 12y ago
    He did something to help promote computer science to people who could not afford a computer. Accepting OBE, on the other hand, is equal to becoming a member of a caste system. You either believe that all people deserve equal rights, or you don't.
    - markdown 12y ago
      > Accepting OBE, on the other hand, is equal to becoming a member of a caste system. No, it's like receiving a Nobel Prize, or a Medal of Honour (or any medal, really). An organisation awarding a prize to someone who has done something remarkable for his fellow men.
      - mariusz79 12y ago
        The titles given are taken from the aristocratic system that's still alive and kicking in the GB. And while OBE does not give the recipient anything special besides titles, heraldic supports and order of precedence, one could argue that it's supporting the aristocratic system. If you accept a title, be it sir or knight, or whatever else there is, you indirectly accept that the person with a higher title is above you, even if they did not earn that title with the hard work like you did, but simply by being born into a right family. You accept being a royal subject, , and you accept that the king or queen, are not your equals but your rulers. In any modern society we have titles, and honors but they have to be earned. President, general, senator is your equal, selected for their office based on the skills (I know that a staggering oversimplification, and a very naive point of view) not based on the birth right.

77 points by RobAley 12y ago

So reading the headline I thought this honor was going to Mr Upton, but instead it's someone else from the RPi foundation? The article seems to infer his fame comes more from Elite than from his educational work on Raspberry Pi. For that matter, where are all the success stories about RPI in the educational arena? For every ten 'here's a cat food dispenser/FM Transmitter/drone tracking system' made from an RPi" stories, there should be at least one decent educational story. I've seen very little.

UweSchmidt 12y ago
It seems that this https://twitter.com/chrisdymond/status/477458249122586624/photo/1 https://twitter.com/chrisdymond/status/477458249122586624/ph... would be the success they were shooting for, and it seems the idea of getting the Raspberries in the hands of kids was a main goal for the RPi team. If we're a little more generous with our definition, a Raspberry-powered cat food dispenser, or even just the idea of having a general-purpose personal computer is educational in itself, no?
buster 12y ago
Of course, his fame comes from Elite, where else? David Braben was a well-known name long before the RPi. Nevertheless, i own a RPi and i'm eagerly waiting for the next Elite.
- joezydeco 12y ago
  Then it's a bit disingenuous to headline this honorary award as being from the success of the Raspberry Pi in the educational arena. If the Brits want to give an award to Braben for his work in video games that's cool. It's a step forward in the acknowledgement that video games are a part of modern culture. But by that token, I'm nominating Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar for the Presidental Medal of Freedom for their work on Defender, Stargate, and Robotron:2084.
  - dang 12y ago
    We swapped the headline for a bit of the subtitle.
  - buster 12y ago
    By that logic noone can ever be rewarded for his work outside of his field. Of course he can be rewarded for his work on RPi, which had more impact on mankind then some video game from 30 years ago.
shutupalready 12y ago
> where are all the success stories about RPI in the educational arena You're right; I don't see success stories in education. But so what? The RPi is a huge success as a prototyping tool, as a platform for one-off devices or small productions runs, and as a hacker appliance (in the good sense of "hacker"). So what if the Raspberry Pi Foundation's original intention was to advance computer education? They achieved success in a different and highly positive way. There's nothing to regret.

unwind 12y ago

I assume OBE here means Order of the British Empire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_British_Empire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_British_Empire).

chrisseaton 12y ago
Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, which is one rank within the Order of the British Empire.
jpt1 12y ago
Yes that's correct

mariusz79 12y ago

Good for him, but I don't get why in our day and age anyone would care about meaningless titles like this. Why do intelligent, educated people accept still play this whole sir/knight/duke/price/king charade?

migstopheles 12y ago
Reductio ad absurdum: everything is meaningless, so why do intelligent, educated people do anything? I find views like this pointlessly cynical. The man has been done something good for society, why on earth shouldn't he accept the acknowledgement?
- mariusz79 12y ago
  He did something to help promote computer science to people who could not afford a computer. Accepting OBE, on the other hand, is equal to becoming a member of a caste system. You either believe that all people deserve equal rights, or you don't.
  - markdown 12y ago
    > Accepting OBE, on the other hand, is equal to becoming a member of a caste system. No, it's like receiving a Nobel Prize, or a Medal of Honour (or any medal, really). An organisation awarding a prize to someone who has done something remarkable for his fellow men.
    - mariusz79 12y ago
      The titles given are taken from the aristocratic system that's still alive and kicking in the GB. And while OBE does not give the recipient anything special besides titles, heraldic supports and order of precedence, one could argue that it's supporting the aristocratic system. If you accept a title, be it sir or knight, or whatever else there is, you indirectly accept that the person with a higher title is above you, even if they did not earn that title with the hard work like you did, but simply by being born into a right family. You accept being a royal subject, , and you accept that the king or queen, are not your equals but your rulers. In any modern society we have titles, and honors but they have to be earned. President, general, senator is your equal, selected for their office based on the skills (I know that a staggering oversimplification, and a very naive point of view) not based on the birth right.