Raspberry Pi

[Glenn]

A computer for £22 is now available the Raspberry Pi (no you can't eat it, Rik) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17190918 One application for it is as a learning tool for schools.

[Rik]

I don't know, grilled with a good sauce... 

[Glenn]

I would have put the thread in computer news, but we don't currently have a general computer news board.

[Rik]

Time for a rethink?

[gizmo71]

Has somebody already made the irrational joke?

[Rik]

No, go for it.

[Simon]

Does it come with custard?

[Glenn]

That's Rhubarb

[Simon]

[john]

I heard about this some months ago and have occasionally looked in at their website. I'm quite interested in buying one but I think it could do with a case.

They've no doubt resolved any problems found with it before going into production but I'll wait a bit longer to see if there are any updates after it's been tested in the wider community. No doubt there will be a lot of demand at the moment anyway.

[kinmel]

I have pre-ordered one, £25 for a new gizmo is brilliant.

[talos]

Looks like the sort of thing Clive Sinclair would have built

[kinmel]

Looks like the sort of thing Clive Sinclair would have built

My very first computer was a Sinclair Z80 kit and if  the Pi sells as well as Sinclair's Spectrum did, Raspberry will be delighted 

[Rik]

Let's hope sales don't crumble.

[john]

If it sells well, they'll have earned their crust 

[Rik]

And be able to cream off the profits.

[john]

I think they could do a bit more to tart it up a bit 

[pctech]

First batch have all gone http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/29/raspberrypi_mania/

I registered my interest with RS Components as would definitely like to tinker with one.

[kinmel]

Farnells have given me a delivery date of week commencing 23rd April for my Pi ;   no custard mentioned though.

[Rik]

I'll send you a tin, Alan.

[zappaDPJ]

This little device has turned out to be somewhat more than I was expecting. For example I didn't realise that it would have such a powerful graphics interface, capable of running some quite intensive PC games as well as the ability to display high density media streams. To some extent I wonder if that will detract from it's purpose, to encourage a new generation of programmers. I will almost certainly buy one myself though.

[Rik]

Just one, Zap?

[zappaDPJ]

I'm on a diet

[Rik]

 

[Steve]

Certainly the OS is one I'm vaguely familiar with i.e. Fedora.

[kinmel]

Certainly the OS is one I'm vaguely familiar with i.e. Fedora.

As you would expect, software is already being tweaked for the Pi           http://elinux.org/RPi_Distributions

[Steve]

The EFIKA MX Smarttop even has a case and WiFi but costs a little more.

[Technical Ben]

Brilliant case! I'd get one myself.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-case-Raspberry-Pi-Model-XXX-professional-Recyclable-/180833083409?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopComponents_RL&hash=item2a1a7de011#ht_500wt_1413

[zappaDPJ]

It should certainly wipe away the competition

[john]

That looks like the bog standard version to me 

It seems there's going to be a delay in supplying the Raspberry Pi

[kinmel]

That looks like the bog standard version to me 

It seems there's going to be a delay in supplying the Raspberry Pi

So that is why I have now had my delivery date pushed back until 24th May 

[john]

I expected that there would be delays due to the demand and also that there may be some minor issues with the software but I'm surprised that there is a mistake with the correct type of connector even though they appear similar.

[Technical Ben]

It's down to the manufacturers apparently. I've always heard rumours that some outsourced manufactures like to cut corners and home no one notices. Turns out it might be true.

Just imagine the conversation. The manufacturer says "They've asked for those expensive sockets. Can we not just use the cheap ones we use for laptops instead?"
Then the designer gets on the phone "you do realise the expensive ones have the parts WE NEED in them? This thing is NOT a laptop." 

[john]

If they're outsourcing production then I can't see that it's in the manufacturers interest to deliberately use the wrong specification of connector because even if it did work Raspberry Pi could insist that they re-work them to replace them with the correct ones which would probably cost them a lot more than they could hope to gain and hardly worth the risk. I would not expect there'd be a great difference in the cost of the sockets anyway and they'd have to make a lot of Raspberry Pi's to make it worth their while but this would also increase the cost of having to re-work them if found out.

[Lance]

Looks like these are about to ship.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17703852

[kinmel]

Farnell have now given me a confirmed delivery date of 21st May 

[Simon]

[Rik]

Ah, but which year, Alan?

[john]

I registered interest in it a couple of weeks ago but have only received a confirmation reply. I expect it will be a few months yet before they have satisfied their existing demand.

[john]

Just saw this on the BBC News

[kinmel]

People are already thinking outside the box for the Pi.

My main interest is radio controlled models and the Pi's 10pin GPOI, small size and low power consumption offers an extremely cheap way of managing extra functions.

Although it is intended for children, I have no doubt it will prove to be widely used by all sorts of hobbyists, it is a game changer and  will sell in the millions once amateur designed addons hit the market.

[pctech]

I can't wait to get my hands on one of these! *grins like an eight year old on Christmas day

Going to see how well it might perform as a small low traffic web server.

[john]

People are already thinking outside the box for the Pi.

I think you're right, there'll be lots of different apps and hardware add-ons marketed as being suitable and it may become quite ubiquitous if it remains cheap enough. I just hope they don't increase the price significantly like they did with the BBC micro when they realised that they could due to the demand.

[Technical Ben]

I can't wait to get my hands on one of these! *grins like an eight year old on Christmas day

Going to see how well it might perform as a small low traffic web server.

Someone got Quake 3 running on it. So it's not too shabby for £20!!! 

[pctech]

It still amazes me how, over the 22 years or so I've been really interested in computers, the power of CPUs has increased so much.

[Rik]

It would be nice to be able to visit in a 100 years, just to see what happened next.

[Glenn]

Go back 100 years and you have this http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth969/m1/1/

[Rik]

I used something similar when I first started work.

[pctech]

It'll be interesting to see what they do with graphene.

[Simon]

It would be nice to be able to visit in a 100 years, just to see what happened next.

You mean, you won't be here?  Pessimist! 

[pctech]

Rik will still be here, he'll be a rogue segment of code in the Google cloud, a ghost in the machine

[Rik]

No, my super-hero powers are needed elsewhere...

[kinmel]

RS Components have taken my money for the Pi, so the long promised delivery date will be about right.

[Steve]

I wonder if it will run Windows 8 eventually. (ARM version obviously)

[pctech]

For that to happen Microsoft would either have to open source Windows RT (never gonna happen) or make an image available for purchase and download (or maybe supplied on DVD but that method of distribution will fall out of favour with MS I reckon shortly)

[kinmel]

I wonder if it will run Windows 8 eventually. (ARM version obviously)

Someone has win7 running on a Pi inside a Citrix XenDesktop.       R.P.F.'s Liz Upton reckons companies could run a bunch of instances of Windows on a server, push the displays out to many Raspberry Pis, and you've got a cheap way of getting Windows onto desks at work, without having to fork out for a full-cost PC.

I still reckon the Pi is a game changer.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/from-both-sides-10005031/raspberry-pi-could-bring-cheap-windows-to-companies-10026180/

[Technical Ben]

It's also a contender for a DIY or Opensource "Virtual Desktop" system as you said. We have seen the launch of Onlive, which is a video game streaming service that uses a "dumb terminal" for the video receiver. The same could be done with the Pi. At the cheap costs, Onlive were giving out their hardware for free.

I wonder if even Google would want to add their Chrome browser/OS to it?

[pctech]

Onlive also offer a virtual desktop service as do the likes of Nasstar

[john]

Looks like the Raspberry PI might have some competition

[kinmel]

My Raspberry Pi arrived from Farnells today.

It is the exact size of a credit card as promised and setting it up took just a few minutes.

[pctech]

So have you done any browsing on it?

[kinmel]

So have you done any browsing on it?

My post was from the Raspberry Pi. The Debian O.S. has been configured for this machine and comes with a browser, media player and office suite installed.

There is a full 1080P HDMI output, which looks rather good on the big LED TV

I have found it runs better without custard.

[pctech]

Nice.

Might get my media centre PC after all.