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Raspberry Pi $25 PC Goes Into Alpha Production
An anonymous reader writes "Game developer David Braben caused geeks to get excited back in May when he announced plans to develop and release a $25 PC. It is called the Raspberry Pi and takes the form of a USB stick that can be plugged into the HDMI port of a display ready to act as a fully-functional PC. Two months on and the spec of the PCB layout has been finalized and an alpha release has been sent to manufacture. Any doubts this PC wasn't going to happen should now disappear as this alpha board is expected to be almost the same as the final production unit. Although we don't know a release date as of yet, the Raspeberry Pi Foundation is promising images of the alpha boards in a couple of weeks."
But I am not foolish enough to think that a few alpha boards makes it a sure thing (open pandora), its good news to say the least but I will keep my doubts until I can have one in my hands thanks
Any doubts this PC wasn't going to happen should now disappear as this alpha board is expected to be almost the same as the final production unit.
these are good news, but only an announcement, there are many reasons a mass production can still fail.
Any doubts this PC wasn't going to happen should now disappear as this alpha board is expected to be almost the same as the final production unit.
Because nothing ever goes wrong, right?
David Braben? Of Elite fame? This was cool enough already!
Looks to be some ARM with 128MB RAM, one USB and one HDMI + analog TV/audio.
You are probably not going to get many bitcoins using that machine.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
I see something like this as much less of a "game console", and much more of a device I'd glue to my alarm system, and to my sprinkler system, and to my thermostat, and to my garage door opener, etc..etc...etc...
I realize in your haste to try for first post you neglected to glance at TFA, so here you go:
I'm confused-- how is this a USB stick if it plugs into an HDMI port? Wouldn't that make it an HDMI stick? Inclusion of a USB port does not make it a USB stick.
With a price point of around $25 I can waste some money and probably come up with some interesting uses even if I break a few.
Time to offend someone
than the HDMI-> VGA adapter I'll need to use it with a cheap display. I guess you have to pick a single port when you're going cheap, but DVI would have been a lot nicer.
I am trolling
I looked at the comments on the announcement page. (Did I violate /. standards by reading the comments from the link even if I didn't read the article?) From what I could see, the board runs on 6V-20V rather than the 5V provided by USB. One discussion seemed to revolve around why they had to use 6V and if they could find a 5V to 6V converter cheap, while another wanted to know if they could power it with PoE.
Great civilizations have lived and died on false theories. Don't mess up mine with a few facts.
and I guess that means 'on the desktop (or bedroom TV)' too.
Now if someone can come up with a set of teaching aids, or lessons that show a teacher what to do with this device, demonstrating computing principles as it goes, then there's really no reason not to buy one of these for every schoolkid in the world.
I might have to buy some ARM stock if governments collectively place an order for a few billion of these :)
I can see myself buying three - one to tape to my TV for a media center, one to carry around my USB computer, and then one to actually hobby-tinker with.
Maybe a fourth for my daughter...
Yes, shockingly enough this $25 device has lower specs than your $400 phone.
No screen so you attach it to HDMI port. No input device unless you attach it via USB. No internet unless you attach it via USB, no storage unless you attach it via USB, you also have to connect the power cord (can it even run off battery pack?), etc, etc.
Remind me again why this isn't just something to be used as a garage door opener or sprinkler timer? Sure it's only $25, and would be fun for hobbyists, but by the time you add all the rest of the needs for basic programming and interaction I don't see it fulfilling their grand vision of a "computer" in ever students hand. It's only slightly more useful than the Linux liveCD that runs off a USB flash drive. It also stretches the definition of "computer" if you have to add all those things to make it useful. Seems an old pentium or x386 would be more useful in their current state and cheaper as well (free). I'm not discrediting the whole idea but I think their grandiose vision is a bit off.
Or could it be they're waiting until it's widespread before pouncing with the only business model they have left?
The main intended use is for classrooms.
The keyboard and screen would be permanently in the room, and each student brings it's own computer. Using this approach, students can have complete control over the computer (i.e. root access). Agreed, you could achieve similar results with a bootable USB stick, and permanent computers in the classroom, but with this approach students can plug the computers to the TV at home, even if they don't have access to a real computer (they still need to buy a keyboard, but that's pretty cheap.)
And by the way, the website says it has an SD slot, and there will be a version including an Ethernet port.
wat
I'll call it a PC when it is complete and turnkey.
So it's powered over the HDMI port. That's cool, that saves one cable dangling off the back of the thing. But as I recall, HDMI ports and plugs aren't exactly known for their willingness to stay together. Add a keyboard and ethernet cable dangling off the back of the thing, and you have an "Oh shit it came unplugged and lost all my work" situation just waiting to happen. So what then? You need some sort of custom stand (since no two tvs seem to have their ports in the same place) or some sort of cable management solution to keep the thing from getting yanked out? Sounds like a piss-poor decision to me.
Replace the HDMI male connector on the thing with a female, and toss a six foot cable in the box (you can get quality HDMI cables for $0.66 a foot or less these days) and you solve the problem completely. Otherwise I can see a lot of frustrated consumers either from losing work at an accidental disconnect, or the HDMI connector getting snapped off of the PCB.
Just this AC's 2 copper
Patent fees[1]- They make more profit form mobile phones with android than with windows phone due to this.
[1] most are dubious either due to being obvious or prior art but the costs of fighting them are simply too great for even most large corporations to fight
I can't see a standard Ubuntu running well with only 128MB of RAM. They'll need to do some heavy customization to make it fit.
Mada mada dane.
"...this alpha board is expected to be almost the same...we don’t know a release date as of yet..."
Yeah yeah, pull the other one.. My doubts will disappear when I seen the thing on the shelf, and at 25 dollars
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
I think you are confused. This is not a generic box shifter that has to pay the £35-ish MS tax (e.g. Dell, Toshiba etc). This is a small tech outfit and Windows won't even fit on their board. The target is going to have to be a Linux of some kind. So no MS tax to pay (end the EU is looking into that at the moment - good thing too, it pisses me off having to pay it).
However...because it does not run Windows, it will not be welcome in UK schools which require students to use MS Office. That's not a stated policy, but it is a direct side-effect of the various choices the exam/school boards etc make. So this device is doomed to fail. If it does gain any kind of traction, MS will just increase their education discounts "for the good of the children" and lock-in another generation.
I dearly hope I am wrong.
But does it have the space to store my intertubes?
Seriously, I remember the original post and the debate over wifi connectivity.
Or you can go the Apple route and deliver it for $100 with the same specs but double the magic. Who needs specs when you have magic!
I can't see a standard Ubuntu running well with only 128MB of RAM. They'll need to do some heavy customization to make it fit.
It's already been done, it's called Xubuntu/Lubuntu (take your pick).
... Jeff Fox has seen this incredible idea before passing away.
> "What the world needed was a good $5 computer that was simple to understand."
Why do the good ones go earlier?
*coughDisneycoughcough*
10 PRINT "Most useful device ever!"
20 GOTO EpicFail
Greetings Slashdot people
Thanks for posting a link to our site. If you have any questions, I'm very happy to answer them here.
Eben Upton
Director, Raspberry Pi Foundation.
Do students nowadays all have a HD television with an HDMI port?
come on fhqwhgads
I wonder if the chassis has enough stability to turn a door locking mechanism..... Hmm.. Better go patent that one. See ya! :>
Couldn't they make it cheaper by not paying the HDMI Tax?
I realise this is as close to "hit the bits" as most people want to get, but there is no mention of non volatile storage on board, ie SD card or similar. I have some wicked ideas and want one, but without storage its going to be a bit limited or some cludgy work round hacks.
If it has got non volatile, user modifiable storage on it (ie no flashing involved) id buy a dozen of these things!
http://www.writeitfor.us - Writing IT for the IT generation.
The provisional specifications include an SD card slot.
the coin in the picture makes no sense for me, however i got the feeling of size by USB connectors :)
> I think you are confused.
Au contraire, mon amie!
Will this marvel be unable to handle FAT32 formatted media? Phew, they ducked that one nicely then but, err, good luck selling it to the real world.
I don't believe HTC let it be known which parts of the linux kernel they agreed to pay m$ extortion fees over their Android phones, but I'll be willing to bet they fought tooth and nail to avoid it, even though they are most definitely "not a generic box shifter that has to pay the £35-ish MS tax".
Read my post again. Hey and cheers to all those who modded me down. Why it's almost as if someone, somewhere is sitting there trying to snuff out all anti-m$ posts here on Slashdot. Good luck with that.
Right, because a hobbyist couldn't possibly be bothered to compile their own customized hobbyist kernel to get what they want out of their hobbyist device.
Enabling FAT32 is easy, even a neanderthal could do it.
BTW, your ego-maniacal ramblings may get you milk and cookies from mommy, but here...
The real path to male liberation
256Mb Actually- they seemed to have increased it on their site. That is much more useful to me than 128, personally.
"People don't want to learn linux" hasn't been a valid excuse since '03.
That would be the "B" model, which includes a network card and 256Mb RAM, at app. $30.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
Well I think it'd be targeted more towards lower income countries than the UK. I mean, a bargain basement desktop or laptop computer would cost at least 100$ wherever you go. TVs are cheap- you can buy a tiny old 5" crt/radio at the drug store for 20-25$ here. HDMI I think was a mistake, but if these things have composite out, it could be very, very affordable as an introduction to computing for those living in Africa. Even if you have 5$ of disposable income a week, in less than 3 months you could own a computer! A little over a month if you already own a TV with composite (read: any TV since 1980, and I don't see many pre-80's TVs still working). This could change the world.
"People don't want to learn linux" hasn't been a valid excuse since '03.
Ah, thanks for clearing that up. With a network card though... it just became a whole lot more useful.
"People don't want to learn linux" hasn't been a valid excuse since '03.
No I/O, that is aside from the built-in SD slot, and whatever you connect via USB.
For a desktop you need to connect a screen, keyboard and mouse. For this you need to connect a screen, keyboard and mouse. This is certainly complete enough to be called a PC.