I've mentioned this before on my blog but you still may not be aware of it. Created in response to a need for university applicants with higher information technology skills than were being seen at induction times, this credit card sized computer is designed to allow young people to both understand and program a simple Computer System at school or at home. This tiny machine has input output, a high resolution HDMI graphics chip, memory and USB connections and, wait for it, and an intended retail price of only $25!
Never, since the days of the ZX 81, has mass market computing been so accessible and so cheap. Designed in the town of Cambridge where the famous ZX 80, ZX81 and ZX Spectrum computers came from, this machine has been designed by someone who, like me, began their career programming for these classic devices.
The Raspberry Pi computer currently runs the linux operating system and use as an ARM processor of the same type as those found in mobile phones. With either 128 or 256 MB of RAM this might be considered small as a Computer System but, contrary to what you may think, linux runs very well on such a small machine and is even capable of full high resolution DVD playback with sound.
For me, the important factor is not what software can be run on the machine but that the system is specifically targeted to educating people who need programming skills. For this reason, I think that Microsoft should seriously think about providing a Windows operating system capable of running on this device because my experience has been that programmers who enter the workplace having learned their craft on every cheap (read free) development system that the colleges and universities invariably use these days have to re-learn a significant portion of their skills before becoing useful to their employers. Most industries use Microsoft operating systems and development tools so it would serve Microsoft well to ensure that the much needed new generations of developers have a solid understanding of those technologies too.
http://www.raspberrypi.org
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