I was party to a wonderful video conference with Rob from the Raspberry Pi foundation today. Introduced as their only employee(!) this is a company that have sold over 500,000 £29 computers in less than a year!
Rob spoke passionately and enthusiastically about the philosophy of the Raspberry Pi and how it aims to introduce children and adults alike to the wonders of digital creativity in an increasingly consumerist IT culture. In conjunction with an 'open source' IT curriculum in UK schools where teachers can choose how 'codey' their lessons are, the Pi allows those enthusiastic pupils and teachers to experience how a computer and software really works with very little capital outlay. When you think that an iPad costs ten times as much and yet you are never really exposed to how the software on it really works, the Pi looks like incredible value, because unlike an iPad, the possibilities of what you can do with it with no investment except for a little time and learning are limitless.
Even better was that Rob told us that as from yesterday all Pis now have double the RAM and are made in the UK for the same price. Also, if you are worried about waiting lists, you can order a Pi today and have it delivered tomorrow from CPC Farnell.
The video conference was organised as part of Chelmsford's Ideas Festival and was hosted by Anglia Ruskin University.
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