Skip to footer

Say hi to the Raspberry Pi, the $35 computer

Programmers are battling for the chance to play with the Raspberry Pi – a computer that looks more like a chip. Who can say no to that $35 price tag?

|
Screenshot/Raspberry Pi User Guide
The Raspberry Pi, priced at $35, was developed by the Cambridge, UK-based Raspberry Pi Foundation.
  • By Megan Riesz

Who would’ve thought that the release of a $35 computer, Raspberry Pi, would crash two websites? Well, everybody.

Released early today, the inexpensive computer sold out within hours, sending the websites of distributors Premier Farnell and RS Components into ordering frenzies.

Raspberry Pi is the size of a chip, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. The circuit board has an Ethernet connection, an audio jack, two USB slots, and a port for an SD memory, plus RCA video and HDMI capabilities.

The $35 price does not include any extra hardware. The Raspberry Pi user guide says it’s more or less essential to buy a USB keyboard, monitor, prepared operating system SD card, and “cables.” Highly suggested extras include a USB mouse, powered USB hub, and – of course – Internet connectivity.

With no internal storage, built-in operating system, or accompanying monitor, it’s hard to call this a full-fledged computer by today’s standards. But the Raspberry Pi’s value lies in its adaptability. They are designed to be tinkered with. The computer is the chip – so some knowledge of programming is key.

“The primary goal was to build a low cost computer that every child could own, and one where programming was the natural thing to do with it,” co-founder Robert Mullins told CNN.

The Raspberry Pi is ideal for children in that its $35 price means any programming-gone-wrong incidents won’t be devastating. The computer is set to have an official educational launch later in 2012, after the initial trial period. By then, developers will have had months to play with the computer and design additional software.

No, the Raspberry Pi doesn’t have the power of today’s higher-priced desktops and laptops. But it could persuade kids to delve back into computer programming, or spark a renaissance of personalized software beyond that of the App Store.

For more tech news, follow us on Twitter @venturenaut. And don’t forget to sign up for the weekly BizTech newsletter.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Say hi to the Raspberry Pi, the $35 computer
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2012/0229/Say-hi-to-the-Raspberry-Pi-the-35-computer
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe