Raspberry Pi interview

An interview for RS Components DesignSpark community about computing in general and the Raspberry Pi in particular.

Raspberry Pi offers a wonderful opportunity for the iPhone generation to learn to develop, rather than merely use, software themselves. The biggest potential is, I think, as a tool for independent, autonomous learning through experiment and discovery, within, but more importantly, beyond the school.

I think it’s far easier for young people to get an insight into how a general purpose computer works, and indeed to start coding, with Linux on a Pi than with locked down devices like Apple’s polished iOS. Given the small form factor of the Pi, I think we’ll see some really interesting embedded applications, including some exciting robotics stuff, via Gertboards and similar.

The price point is crucial too, as this removes the cost barrier for computing, and means that young people wanting to experiment with computing don’t need to worry about others in their family not being able to use the shared computer.

More Q&A on their site.