Raspberry Pi
The link
What it is
The Raspberry Pi is a small, dirt
cheap mini-computer (starting at $ 35). It’s powered by USB, uses an SD card
for storage, and comes with networking and USB ports. Despite its tiny size and
cheap price point, the Raspberry Pi can output HD video over HDMI.
The raspberrypi.org website refers
to a few ‘official distributors’. I’ve bought mine at RS
Online, which ships
for free if you order € 50.00 or more. Other (web or physical) stores carry it
as well. There are many accessories available from third parties, from cases to
LED programming kits, to touchscreens. Adafruit is a good accessories shop and idea
blog.
Note that while the Pi does a lot of
things, it can’t run Windows.
What it means to me
My fascination for the Raspberry Pi
comes from the combination of its two main characteristics: it costs next to
nothing, and can do quite a lot. Over the past year, the Raspberry Pi has been my
number one daydreaming device: the small size and low price point lends itself
very well to “wouldn’t it be cool if …?” scenarios. For starters, if you have
any degree of skill in a construction type hobby (woodworking, 3d printing,
even sewing) you may find yourself considering custom case options very
quickly.
Currently, my own Pi is set up to be
a home theater device, streaming media from my NAS. It runs on Kodi a solid, user friendly OS to turn
your Pi into a € 50 media center. But one day, I will build a mini boombox out
of it. Or a wall-mounted computer in an antique frame. Or I’ll attach it to a
monitor to make a really strange laptop.
Many of these possible projects may
not be optimal compared to a regular
laptop or a good smartphone, but they are more fun. More importantly, if you
have a Pi you can try them for the cost of an SD card. It’s a great learning
and experimentation device.
If “tinkering with computers”,
“learning about hardware”, or “really cheap media center” sounds like your
kind of thing, have a look at the Raspberry Pi.
Lightning edit: It seems that the Raspberry Pi people have launched a new, more powerful model today. See here for news. Apparently, the new version is powerful enough to run Windows, and still costs $35. Do yourself a favor and buy one!
Lightning edit: It seems that the Raspberry Pi people have launched a new, more powerful model today. See here for news. Apparently, the new version is powerful enough to run Windows, and still costs $35. Do yourself a favor and buy one!
A new, 4 core version, was released over the weekend!
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