The $25 PC

[NGS]

Very cool story about David Braben (from Frontier for all you RCT3 folks) and his new project.
Source, with video and pics

David Braben is a very well-known game developer who runs the UK development studio Frontier Developments, but is just as well known for being the co-developer of Elite.

Over his career his studio has brought us the Rollercoaster Tycoon series, Thrillville, Lost Winds, and most recently Kinectimals. In the background, however, Braben has been trying to tackle another problem: getting programming and general learning of how computers work back into schools.

Braben argues that education since we entered the 2000s has turned towards ICT which teaches useful skills such as writing documents in a word processor, how to create presentations, and basic computer use skills. But that has replaced more computer science-like skills such as basic programming and understanding the architecture and hardware contained in a computer.

His solution is not to create his own course, but instead to manufacture a very low cost PC that can be given to kids for free and courses built up around their use. When we say low cost, we mean so low even the OLPC would be impressed.

Braben has developed a tiny USB stick PC that has a HDMI port in one end and a USB port on the other. You plug it into a HDMI socket and then connect a keyboard via the USB port giving you a fully functioning machine running a version of Linux. The cost? $25.

The hardware being offered is no slouch either. It uses a 700MHz ARM11 processor coupled with 128MB of RAM and runs OpenGL ES 2.0 allowing for decent graphics performance with 1080p output confirmed. Storage is catered for by an SD card slot. It also looks as though modules can be attached such as the 12MP camera seen in the image above.

We can expect it to run a range of Linux distributions, but it looks like Ubuntu may be the distro it ships with. That means it will handle web browsing, run office applications, and give the user a fully functional computer to play with as soon as it’s plugged in. All that and it can be carried in your pocket or on a key chain.

This tiny, cheap PC is going to be distributed through a new charitable foundation called the Raspberry Pi Foundation. It will also promote computer science studies in schools.

As for when the Raspberry Pi device will become available, Braben says he hopes to be distributing it within the next 12 months.

I'm wondering just how much of an impact this could have on the PC market/education/accessibility of computers. Obviously you still need a monitor, but this is a fascinating reduction in the costs of modern PCs.

[Ominous Gamer]

Makes the Jack PC feel like a full fledged tower PC.

I'd love to see how one performs in person. The PS3 has twice the ram, and has serious issues browsing the internet in this modern age.

[Ominous Gamer]

The project has moved into alpha production, and there are 2 models now, a $25 model and a $35 model that has twice the ram and ethernet.

[Khendraja'aro]

Great. So essentially you'll need to lug around a USB hub as well since, let's face it, a modern PC should sport a mouse as well as a keyboard.

[DecoyMilk]

Great. So essentially you'll need to lug around a USB hub as well since, let's face it, a modern PC should sport a mouse as well as a keyboard.

I think it's your sunny exterior that everyone likes the most about you

[Ominous Gamer]

Great. So essentially you'll need to lug around a USB hub as well since, let's face it, a modern PC should sport a mouse as well as a keyboard.

From what I understand, these are meant to be low cost learning centers. They plug into the HDMI port of a TV/monitor, and you use the one USB cord it comes with to plug in the keyboard/mouse receiver.

But yeah, even in the early pics, it was always plugged into a hub

[Khendraja'aro]

From what I understand, these are meant to be low cost learning centers. They plug into the HDMI port of a TV/monitor, and you use the one USB cord it comes with to plug in the keyboard/mouse receiver.

But yeah, even in the early pics, it was always plugged into a hub

Well, the problem is that the power supply from HDMI, while being at 5 V, only has to supply a minimum of 55 mA per specification. Which means you may run into problems if you expect the HDMI connection to power both the PC and whatever you plugged into the USB port since USB itself is specc'ed for up to 500 mA.

For that reason probably, the Raspberry Pi website states that the device needs an external power supply.

[Ominous Gamer]

And there is a power source shown in the OP.

Nowhere did I state that this thing draws power from the HDMI connection, only how that its designed to be as cheap and small as possible to stay out of sight.

[Khendraja'aro]

Still, a second USB port would make it much more useful while removing the need for additional cables and the hub.

[Ominous Gamer]

and it kind of defeats the idea behind the design. So many devices, especially keyboards and monitors (all the monitors and keyboards at work have 2 spare ports), come with hubs built it, it would make the extra expense here useless.

[Wraith]

Khen: "The $35 unit (Model B) will include the two USB host ports and Ethernet, and ships with 256MB RAM"

Although, for all the uses I'm imagining for this thing, I'd probably only use 1 USB port once.

[Lebanese Dragon]

Ya, it's interesting, I'm just failing to see at the moment how it's going to teach me how a computer is made, how programming langauges work, he says they're supposed to play around with it, but I'm curious. It's definitely cool. I think I could learn a programming langauage decently, I have no capacity or enough imagination, at this moment, to begin to truly understood, how i could make a computer from scratch, everything. Even a primite one. I have some understanding of how to direct information through a wire, and perhaps even storing it (depending on the type of information), and having stuff appear on a screen. I have an inkling of where to begin. There is so many years of experimentation that discovered all of these properties that come together to make this work, I'd really enjoy a course that at the end you build your own computer, crafting your own mother board, crafting your own hard drive, your ram. Or know exactly what a machine is doing to put it all together. I feel inadequate to this task.. hmmmm... interesting. Maybe i should youtube some of these topics and begin to peer into this mist.

[CitizenCain]

Great. So essentially you'll need to lug around a USB hub as well since, let's face it, a modern PC should sport a mouse as well as a keyboard.

Or you could use one of those wireless USB keyboard and mouse combos. One of my systems has a Logitech MX 5000 keyboard and MX 1000 mouse connected through the same USB receiver. I think that cost about 4 times as much as this computer we're talking about, but that's going to be a problem with any peripheral.

[Ominous Gamer]

And here is the $25 running Quake III

I want 1, or 3.

[CitizenCain]

And here is the $25 running Quake III

I want 1, or 3.

http://e_mdujuvzji/

I don't think that's gonna resolve for anyone, OG.

I still think I'd prefer one of those plug PCs running Linux that you can basically use as a server with a very impact on the power bill. As cool as it is to have a fully functional PC hanging from the keychain along with your flash drive, I'm really drawing a blank about what you could use it for that wouldn't be better served by something else (other than educational uses, and OLEP-type aims). 'Course, if it is just $35 to have a fully functional computer on my keychain, maybe the cool factor's enough... I've certainly wasted more money on far less useful things.

[Hazir]

It's cute, but it needs a lot of peripherals to have any real functionality beyond 'playing computer' it seems.

[Ominous Gamer]

e_mDuJuvZjI

I don't think that's gonna resolve for anyone, OG.

my bad, thats a youtube link



I see these costing me about $50-$60 to get up and running how I want. First one would go in the girls room since Ocean loves youtube music and is starting to get the hang of online educational sites. A $10 wireless adapter and a refurb wireless keyboard/mouse is all I would appear to need.

[LittleFuzzy]

It's cute, but it needs a lot of peripherals to have any real functionality beyond 'playing computer' it seems.

I just spent my entire evening removing an obnoxious piece of malware from my mother's computer that flashed up constant pop-ups about phantom "vulnerabilities" and killed any executables I tried to run, even in Safe Mode. I told her one of these was going to be her next computer so when she inevitably infected it with something else we could just buy her a new one.

[Aimless]

So... right around the corner, and it looks like it'll be more useful than my desktop in some ways, eg. it might handle suspend/resume properly and also play 1080p video really hope this idea takes off some great tools out already, eg. software to teach kids Ruby. I can think of a few cool things an army of kids (and adults ) might be able to do with these things

[Ominous Gamer]

We're already planning to purchase a few of these at work. Looking into ways toplug them into the back of the public TVs we have and run access video loops.