Saturday, 10 March 2012

6 Mar 2012 - Credit card sized computer

Today I was reading The Age online and I discovered an article about a computer that had been invented that was the size of a credit card, and cost only thirty-five American dollars! The Raspberry Pi is the name of the computer, and it sold out it's first ten thousand stock in just minutes from when it was made available. I thought the idea of this computer was amazing because I had learnt at university about Moore's Law of computers, which states that a computer chips density will double every 18 months, but I never really imagined that we could have a computer that small. If you think about it, the Raspberry Pi is currently the size of a credit card, and although it is a little slow, in roughly 18 months time, according to Moore's Law, it will be twice as fast as it is now, so eventually we could be looking at our household computers being as powerful as they are now, but only the size of a credit card. This got me to thinking, what use would I have for a computer that is the size of a credit card? I have enough trouble keeping track of my phone, I don't really need a computer that I could easily lose around the house!

As I read further down the article I realised that the purpose of the computer was not for me to be able to eventually downsize my computer at home, it was actually designed to make it affordable for children who might be interested in computer coding who might not able to afford to buy one. The Raspberry Pi is easy to program, cheap enough that anyone could afford to buy one and small enough to fit inside a backpack. The Raspberry Pi Foundation, who invented the credit card sized computer, states that they are "about teaching kids to program, not making a computer," and are now looking to launch their product into schools. I believe however, that as with the Ouija board (see post 4 Mar 2012), that this product may become more famous for a different purpose than that which the creators intended.

The original article was on The Age website.

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