Google to give schools Raspberry Pi microcomputers - Polidicks

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21243825[/url] [QUOTE][B]Schools around the UK are to be given 15,000 free microcomputers, with a view to creating a new generation of computer scientists.[/B] Funded by Google, the Raspberry Pi Foundation hopes the free devices will inspire children to take up coding. The pared-down Raspberry Pi, launched a year ago, is already a huge success. There are concerns current information and communications technology (ICT) teaching is inadequate preparation for the future jobs in technology. [QUOTE]Slightly pricier, but not by much, are the APC from VIA, Rikomagic's MK802 and RK3066, the BeagleBoard, the Mele A1000 and the Hiapad Hi-802. Alongside these are more expensive products such as FXI's Cotton Candy Android computer, Intel's Next Unit of Computing, Xi3's Piston and Zotac's ZBOX. These cost a good deal more than a £27 Model B Pi - upwards of £150 - and aim to be a fully featured computer. Other manufacturers are getting into the puny PC game though their devices are not as malleable as a Pi. Favi's computer on a USB stick acts as a media server. Dell is doing something similar with Project Ophelia which will do some work locally but shunt the hard stuff to the cloud.[/QUOTE] The partnership was announced at Chesterton Community College in Cambridge, where children were given a coding lesson by Google's chairman Eric Schmidt and Raspberry Pi co-founder Eben Upton. [IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65566000/jpg/_65566973_raspberryp12.jpg[/IMG] [/QUOTE]

a newsbot beat you for like one day! [url]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1243401[/url] [editline]31st January 2013[/editline] i do know people don't visit NN and SH. i just do both cause it's not that much of a bother, really.

[QUOTE=Zero Ziat;39421289]a newsbot beat you for like one day! [url]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1243401[/url] [editline]31st January 2013[/editline] i do know people don't visit NN and SH. i just do both cause it's not that much of a bother, really.[/QUOTE] I usually steer clear of NN, mostly because it hurts my eyes every time I open up the page.

I thought there were still supply issues with the Pi?

Wouldn't they also have to buy keyboards, mice, monitors, cases, power supplies and shit for all the students?

I'm not a computer person. A computer as small as Raspberry Pi, what is it capable of?

[QUOTE=CodeMonkey3;39421381]I'm not a computer person. A computer as small as Raspberry Pi, what is it capable of?[/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_mDuJuvZjI[/media]

[QUOTE=CodeMonkey3;39421381]I'm not a computer person. A computer as small as Raspberry Pi, what is it capable of?[/QUOTE] quake 3 and running a cheap media server

Quake 3 runs pretty poorly and has lots of graphical glitches tbh. If someone actually took time to port it better I think it could run better but it's not really any fun in its current state.

The raspberry pi looks interesting but im not understanding this smaller computer fad, it really seems like the mobile phone small fad how we got smaller and smaller and smaller before we started realizing it was stupid so we started to grow larger again but were able to pack more punch into the phone then before

[QUOTE=fruxodaily;39424348]The raspberry pi looks interesting but im not understanding this smaller computer fad, it really seems like the mobile phone small fad how we got smaller and smaller and smaller before we started realizing it was stupid so we started to grow larger again but were able to pack more punch into the phone then before[/QUOTE] These smaller computers are specifically being designed for people to learn how to program on low-cost, decent performance machines. They aren't really intended for home or industrial use.

[QUOTE=valkery;39424366]These smaller computers are specifically being designed for people to learn how to program on low-cost, decent performance machines. They aren't really intended for home or industrial use.[/QUOTE] oh in that case that's pretty good, i always thought it was a consumer prototype or something

These things are great for running motor controllers. [QUOTE=CodeMonkey3;39421381]I'm not a computer person. A computer as small as Raspberry Pi, what is it capable of?[/QUOTE]It's about as powerful as the original Xbox or a Pentium 3 at about 500-700Mhz (that's a new PC from around 1999-2000). You can run mpeg 4 because of a chip it has. You can run SNES emulators on it.

[QUOTE=RoboChimp;39424410]These things are great for running motor controllers. It's about as powerful as the original Xbox or a Pentium 3 at about 500-700Mhz (that's a new PC from around 1999-2000). You can run mpeg 4 because of a chip it has. You can run SNES emulators on it.[/QUOTE] I wouldn't say its anywhere near a Pentium 3 at 700mhz, these use low power ARM chips after all, you can't just rely on frequency to tell the whole tale, since it's also RISC it might take more instructions to do something that might just take one instruction on a CISC based processor like the modern x86_64 processors. Either way, they're not really that powerful.

no offense but I see this being a waste (at least from my experience with US schools) the more new stuff you give to instructors, the more time the instructors have to spend figuring it out, and often it goes to waste.

[QUOTE=trotskygrad;39426265]no offense but I see this being a waste (at least from my experience with US schools) the more new stuff you give to instructors, the more time the instructors have to spend figuring it out, and often it goes to waste.[/QUOTE] Well at least it's progress :v:, if they can't figure it out as teachers for a comp sci program, they probably shouldn't be there.

[QUOTE=Profanwolf;39426301]Well at least it's progress :v:, if they can't figure it out as teachers for a comp sci program, they probably shouldn't be there.[/QUOTE] well there were little robots at my school... we tried to use them one day, didn't work out well, so that was that, they just went back into storage. It's usually hard for teachers to fit this thing into a curriculum imo.

[QUOTE=Shadaez;39424125]Quake 3 runs pretty poorly and has lots of graphical glitches tbh. If someone actually took time to port it better I think it could run better but it's not really any fun in its current state.[/QUOTE] It ran like shit on mine.

These microcomputers are stronger than the computers my high school had.

Much better idea than handing students Ipads and other trendy garbage.

Can we get this to happen in the US, too? I'm tired of hearing about similar programs with schools giving kids Ipads and finding out they break a week later causing the school to lose a ton of money.

This is damn good. I swear, my high school's budget was on a budget.

[QUOTE=kaskade700;39427223]Much better idea than handing students Ipads and other trendy garbage.[/QUOTE] this I can agree with, giving iPads to students is even stupider.

I've seem a remarkable increase in kids in my area being interested in "advanced" computing (i.e hardware, basic programming) since the Pi launched, it's been a huge boost. Maybe this'll convince even more people to get their feet wet, and kick the stigma of "programmers are nerds" out of the door [QUOTE=GammaFive;39426429]These microcomputers are stronger than the computers my high school had.[/QUOTE] Reminds me, my junior school were just upgrading to Windows 2000 thinclients when I left in 2005 / 2006, an upgrade from Acorn A7000's running RISCOS 3. A7000's running RISCOS 3. In 2006. That was a dark chapter in my computing history.

[QUOTE=Profanwolf;39426086]I wouldn't say its anywhere near a Pentium 3 at 700mhz, these use low power ARM chips after all, you can't just rely on frequency to tell the whole tale, since it's also RISC it might take more instructions to do something that might just take one instruction on a CISC based processor like the modern x86_64 processors. Either way, they're not really that powerful.[/QUOTE] I said it was between between 500 and 700Mhz P3, may be even a Celeron 433 Not it's exactly as a fast as a P3 700. Ok fine, it's close to a 700Mhz single core Android phone. Anyway I'm not going to lie, all these disagrees did piss me off, so thanks for that and thanks for making me look like an idiot, now I'm too pissed off to get one these things.

[QUOTE=RoboChimp;39429117]I said it was between between 500 and 700Mhz P3, may be even a Celeron 433 Not it's exactly as a fast as a P3 700. Ok fine, it's close to a 700Mhz single core Android phone. Anyway I'm not going to lie, all these disagrees did piss me off, so thanks for that and thanks for making me look like an idiot, now I'm too pissed off to get one these things.[/QUOTE] You don't have to act like I cut your dick off :v: I wasn't taking a personal stab at you or anything, don't treat it like a personal attack :smile:

Pi's are great little devices, but don't buy one if you want to use it as a desktop :I Mine is set up as a music server and on the occasion I boot in to XBMC (streaming from a nas that is, the USB's aren't good enough on their own for anything really)