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BBC Returns To Making Computers For Schools

Posted by timothy on from the as-it-ever-was dept.

Raging Bool writes According to the BBC News website, the BBC is returning to producing comparatively inexpensive computers for schools. Readers of sufficient age will remember the BBC Model B with great affection. But won't this be in competition with other pre-existing devices such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi? The BBC says not: "The BBC does not see Micro Bit as a rival to similar devices such as Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Galileo and Kano, but rather hopes it will act as a 'springboard' to these more complex machines." I hope they're at least consulting with Eben Upton.

13 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. Became ARM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually it was Acorn Computers that made the BBC model B. They went on to make a RISC processor, ARM, the most successful processor sold by unit volume. The one in your smartphone and TV box and car and Raid and router and and and and ....

    All possible because the BBC decided to pump money into a computer back in the 80's when the computer industry was a hobby.

    1. Re:Became ARM by CeasedCaring · · Score: 2

      Before the BBC sponsorship deal, the BBC Micro was originally called the Acorn Proton. It was a successor to their previous model, the Acorn Atom.

    2. Re:Became ARM by Raging+Bool · · Score: 2

      Yes, but the BBC Micro was licensed and heavily promoted via the BBC, and Acorn brought their demo system to a meeting with the BBC to win the manufacturing contract. The BBC controlled the specification of the computer, so they were (in the movie sense of the term) the producer. Acorn were a very gifted art department.

      Acorn, followed and ARM would not be where they were and are today if they had not managed to win that BBC contract.

    3. Re:Became ARM by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 2

      Yeah, it cost £400, which is £1,400 adjusted for inflation.

      The "inexpensive" version (the Acorn Electron) still cost £200. My grandparents chipped in to help my parents buy me one.

      In real terms, the Raspberry Pi (which is a fair-ish comparison - not as much I/O, but still doesn't have it's own screen, like the BBC) costs less than £10 adjusted to 1981.

      Price is not the issue. People found the money back then. Computing hardware is incredibly cheap now. You can get a full laptop with screen, for a small fraction of what the BBC cost.

      The issue is the wealth of distractions available to youth BECAUSE computer hardware is now incredibly cheap and ubiquitous.

  2. More Complex? by Gonoff · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If things like the Pi are so much more complex, just how simple is this new device?
    I am thinking an abacus with a battery light...

    --
    I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
    1. Re: More Complex? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

      They might mean 'complex' in the sense that an arduous isn't going to do much without access to a real computer with the dev tools installed; and won't do much that is visible without some basic electrical bodging to connect LEDs and switches or the like. Based on the photos, it looks like they went for something that includes some rudimentary display capabilities by default and may even be modestly programmable without hooking it up to a full PC. That would arguably make it 'less complex' in terms of integration into a classroom. In terms of onboard hardware, I'd be shocked if it isn't more complex than most arduinos. They have good reasons(maturity, code base, and tool chain count for a lot); but Arduinos have actually stuck with rather retro chips and changed only slowly, even as Cortex-M0s and such have come to offer rather more punch for about the same money.

      One slightly surprising thing: if you are going to the trouble of spinning a totally new device, why not stick a thumb in TI's eye(and save money), by making that totally new device a calculator-styled system that also has some GPIO and onboard or external programmability?

  3. Why hardware? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

    I can understand the desire to jump into hardware when what you want is currently unavailable(while it arguably failed, the OLPC XO was something that simply wasn't available for purchase until they showed that they were serious about being willing to build them. It was mostly eclipsed by commercial offerings not too much later; but at the time there wasn't anything quite like it, certainly not for the price); but 'relatively friendly intro dev boards' isn't really a category that currently feels neglected. If anything, it is booming. What is the incentive for the BBC to spin yet-another-slightly-different board, rather than glom on to the existing product or product family closest to their needs and focus on a combination of curriculum/documentation and tool chain polish to ensure smooth use in education, even when the teacher isn't a microcontroller geek?

  4. Re:Your tax £. by Chrisq · · Score: 2

    Yet another pointless waste of money by the BBC.

    Well - informing and educating is in it's charter and if done successfully it is a bit difficult to argue that it is more of a waste of money than many of their programs.

  5. Re:Your tax £. by itzly · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And when they did this with the BBC Computer it gave a big boost to Acorn Computers, which probably helped them getting into developing the ARM CPU. And ARM has repaid that initial BBC investment many times over.

  6. Doesn't address the issue by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    .. and I'm not sure what will.

    The reason that kids of my age were "into computers" and we had a "great generation" of bedroom programmers who subsequently became tech workers was because simple, programmable computers were one of the few forms of entertainment available to the kids who didn't want to go out and kick a ball around or ride their bike.

    This was an era when

    * Things were more expensive (the toys cost.. about what they do, in numbers, these days. Only inflation means that £30 is not even 10 pints of beer for dad these days when it was more like 60 pints of beer back then.) A £200 home computer was a MAJOR expense rather than an impulse buy.
    * There was an hour of kids TV on weekdays

    And of course

    * NO INTERNET - no personal portable devices of bottomless instant gratification

    I saw a great article that explained that the no.1 quality a programmer needs is persistence - in the face of ridiculous odds of getting even simple things to work.

    Back then you persevered with things because the only other thing to do was go and watch Coronation Street with mother, or re-read one of the few books you could afford this month. Even deciding to start playing a game wasn't exactly an impulse choice because to load it took about 5 minutes (from audio cassette tape).

    Producing more simple, programmable computers these days is missing the point, although they are greatly appreciated by folks from that great generation of bedroom programmers who like a new toy to tinker with.

    What's probably needed is better software. Better like A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer better.

  7. Re:this is what the BBC is all about? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Sarcasm aside, yes it is.

  8. What are the Specs? by nukenerd · · Score: 2
    FTFA :-

    "The BBC does not see Micro Bit as a rival to ... Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Galileo and Kano, but rather hopes it will act as a "springboard" to these more complex machines ....it will be compatible with three coding languages - Touch Develop, Python and C++.

    It has a C++ compiler but is not complex? Seriously, intoducing kids to coding using C++? Things like the RPi don't need a springboard to reach them anyway. All these things can be used as simple as you like or as complex as you like. What OS is this thing using anyway?

    the BBC is being careful not to repeat the mistakes of the BBC Microcomputer launch, which angered rivals such as Sinclair

    Why was "angering" Sinclair a "mistake"? He was just another micro manufacturer so was hardly to be expected to welcome a new rival. Couldn't they have told him to f#@k off?

    the BBC is working with several partners, including chip-designer Arm, Microsoft and Samsung, to get the end product right.

    Microsoft? Now they are angering me.

  9. Re:A News Agency is making Computers? by dave420 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The BBC is not a news agency, it is a public broadcaster which has a charter it must abide by. It is not owned by the British Government. According to its charter, it has 6 public purposes:

    1. 1. Sustaining citizenship and civil society
    2. 2. Promoting education and learning
    3. 3. Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
    4. 4. Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities
    5. 5. Bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK
    6. 6. Delivering to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services

    This initiative falls squarely under #2 (and arguably under #6), similar to how the BBC helped popularise home computers in the 1980s, which as a nice side-benefit created the ARM processor and raked in all sorts of money for the UK government.

    You might want to understand what's being discussed before getting all internet-outrage-y and demonstrating your ignorance on the topic ;)