Raspberry Pi

[AtW]

I think this Pi thingy is rather a good idea to introduce young people to computing

Pi would have done well against Altair 8800 possibly also in 80s.

If you want young people to be put off computing then give them that thing. Maybe it would actually serve good purpose...

[Cliphead]

Pi would have done well against Altair 8800 possibly also in 80s.

If you want young people to be put off computing then give them that thing. Maybe it would actually serve good purpose...

Your argument being?

[AtW]

Your argument being?

It's totally unnecessary given how cheap computers are these days - just ordered 5 new desktops for office today for only £400 each. A decent desktop can be had on ebay for £100.

These days IT students should spend more time learning how to program massively parallel systems rather than get stuck in single core land, also business skills are essential - nobody needs a lot of low level programmers given how powerful and cheap servers are these days.

Therefore the only people who get excited by Pi are old geeks who look in the past rather than into the future.

HTH

[Cliphead]

It's totally unnecessary given how cheap computers are these days - just ordered 5 new desktops for office today for only £400 each. A decent desktop can be had on ebay for £100.

These days IT students should spend more time learning how to program massively parallel systems rather than get stuck in single core land, also business skills are essential - nobody needs a lot of low level programmers given how powerful and cheap servers are these days.

Therefore the only people who get excited by Pi are old geeks who look in the past rather than into the future.

HTH

Hardly an argument is it? It's aimed at kids primarily. So what spec and cost to get a PC with enough grunt to run M$'s bloated OS and dev tools?

Just admit it you hate Linux, probably cos it's beyond you.

[minestrone]

It's totally unnecessary given how cheap computers are these days - just ordered 5 new desktops for office today for only £400 each. A decent desktop can be had on ebay for £100.

These days IT students should spend more time learning how to program massively parallel systems rather than get stuck in single core land, also business skills are essential - nobody needs a lot of low level programmers given how powerful and cheap servers are these days.

Therefore the only people who get excited by Pi are old geeks who look in the past rather than into the future.

HTH

Dear child, you don't have a clue the difference between an ISIN and a SEDOL, you probably think a VALOR is a character from a lord of the rings film.

[AtW]

Hardly an argument is it? It's aimed at kids primarily. So what spec and cost to get a PC with enough grunt to run M$'s bloated OS and dev tools?

This should be good enough for just £200:

DELL PRECISION 8GB RAM TOWER DESKTOP COMPUTER PC WINDOWS 7 | eBay

If you insist on using Linux then even cheaper hardware can be had, say this for £120 (includes monitor):

REFURBISD TOWER PC,19" LCD SCREEN, 3GHZ CPU, 2 GB DDR2,300 GB SATA, DVD WARRANTY | eBay

Just admit it you hate Linux, probably cos it's beyond you.

I love Linux - we use it extensively, I just wish .NET run reliably on it in which case we'd ditch more of Windoze boxes. In fact the new stuff we do will use Java just so that we could get away from dependency on Windows.

Pi is not needed - most kids got smartphones worth £500 with much faster processors and if kids want to learn IT then should maybe program something commercial for it to appreciate how hard it will be in real life should they be stupid enough to choose IT as career option.

HTH

[AtW]

Dear child, you don't have a clue the difference between an ISIN and a SEDOL, you probably think a VALOR is a character from a lord of the rings film.

Honestly I may have come across with ISIN but never heard the other abbreviations.

In my line of work they are not necessary and probably won't be necessary for 99.5% of those who wish to pursue IT career.

Instead kids should be shown full reality of what's going on in the world right now - make them appreciate industry with a strong union that takes care of their members... such as lawyers!

[Cliphead]

This should be good enough for just £200:

DELL PRECISION 8GB RAM TOWER DESKTOP COMPUTER PC WINDOWS 7 | eBay

If you insist on using Linux then even cheaper hardware can be had, say this for £120 (includes monitor):

REFURBISD TOWER PC,19" LCD SCREEN, 3GHZ CPU, 2 GB DDR2,300 GB SATA, DVD WARRANTY | eBay





I love Linux - we use it extensively, I just wish .NET run reliably on it in which case we'd ditch more of Windoze boxes. In fact the new stuff we do will use Java just so that we could get away from dependency on Windows.

Pi is not needed - most kids got smartphones worth £500 with much faster processors and if kids want to learn IT then should maybe program something commercial for it to appreciate how hard it will be in real life should they be stupid enough to choose IT as career option.

HTH

Schools are stretched for cash these days so supplying 20+ kids with £200 boxes is probably beyond most and likely for parents too.

The whole point is the Pi is a starting point and if just a few kids get the bug for developing and learning how to use an OS without all the unecessary crap then it will have served it's purpose.

I've actually run a full Debian OS on a smartphone complete with dev tools but hardly the best way to develop for a phone or anything else.

Understanding the fundamentals is as important now as it was for me over thirty odd years ago and the Pi brings that to the party at just about a throwaway cost. It's in its infancy and as more geeks than kids get a hold of it and come up with more inovative ways of building on it the more excitement it will generate.

[minestrone]

Honestly I may have come across with ISIN but never heard the other abbreviations.

In my line of work they are not necessary and probably won't be necessary for 99.5% of those who wish to pursue IT career.

Instead kids should be shown full reality of what's going on in the world right now - make them appreciate industry with a strong union that takes care of their members... such as lawyers!

So you are battering on about business skill but clearly have no clue what any of the terms I type mean. Bit of an idiot ain't you.

[AtW]

The whole point is the Pi is a starting point

Not for kids it's not - for experienced old tight balding geeks who look back at the age when their skills were in demand it probably reminds them their use.

Understanding the fundamentals is as important now

I think you'll put off kids with this tulip - they got nice smartphones with shiny games, Xboxen at home, certainly access to PC (even via the library): that thingy will appeals to precisely 0.1% children at best.