A credit-card sized computer, called the Raspberry Pi, was launched yesterday.
It has no case, no keyboard, no monitor (you plug it into a television) or hard disk (it runs from an SD card.)
One of its aims is to encourage the development of programming skills, the intention being to move school IT from the "how to use a word processor, how to use a spreadsheet..." cul-de-sac it has become and inspire the next generation of programmers.
I remember my first computer, an Acorn Electron. This was the little brother to the BBC micro that was found in many schools. It had a whopping 32k of memory, one channel of sound, eight colours... and BBC BASIC.
I did not write many original programs - the only two I can remember were my GCSE and A-level projects, which were essentially the same, just for different computers! However, I remember spending hours typing listings from Electron User - often repeatedly as my tape recorder never seemed able to record properly.
This sparked my interest in programming, which has resulted in my IT career. I am sure that the Raspberry Pi has the potential to do this many times over.
