The little computer that could

Raspberry Pi: one million units made in Britain landmark passed

The Raspberry Pi started life as an idea to bring computing in schools back to the era of the BBC Micro in the early 1980s, which inspired children to learn how a computer worked and allowed them to discover what was possible through learning to code.

“What was needed was a return to an exciting, programmable machine like the old BBC Micro; and it had to be affordable, say around £20, so every child could potentially have one,” explained Eben Upton co-founder of the Raspberry Pi at its launch. “Computing wasn’t being seen as the exciting, vibrant subject it should be at school – it had become lacklustre and even boring.”

I’ve been studying how we could use the Raspberry Pi in out classrooms. The lack of monitors with DVI or HDMI connectors have been a stumbling block, along with the lack of Flash and mediocre performance as a desktop. Although, that’s not the role the Raspberry Pi was designed to fill, it would be a good entry into the classroom.