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    #31
    It was simply a genuine question. I have no idea and my kids did not take IT. No need to be defensive

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      #32
      It could be crucial with the government finally realising that IT courses are pretty useless for giving kids relevent skills, and a refocus on software programming.

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        #33
        This talk of getting the kids back into programming is assuming schools aren't gonna just buy a bunch of them and stick OpenOffice on, then we're back to square one

        I want one, too. It's got HDMI out, ffs!

        Also, people are already making amazing cases for it on eBay:

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          #34
          Nay bother, you have do to a lot worse than question value of programming to get me upset or defensive! The problem is will we now have a bunch of kids who can explain how declare variables of different data types and define register ina CPU but may be incapable of say setting up a mail merge.... the thing is it is all useful however I feel strongly kids need a wide breadth, programming, web, application use, media "stuff" not to mention more theory of the current context; the influence of technology on society, IP law, place in the economy.
          But then again I am a teacher not an industry trainer. I am not turning out trained certificated bods. There are plenty of schools who just will happily "teach" for 8 weeks making a powerpoint. I **** you not! Not to mention the old 6 weeks of how to write a letter and set up margins in word. Then again I am sure someone will find that useful.
          For me kids use computers therefore they should understand how they work in the many forms they come in. A year 7 will not be banging out iPhone apps in XCode as Gove seems to think but they can certainly learn how binary works, understand the components of a typical computer.
          RPI will only be as good as the teachers that use them otherwise what Billy says will happen. Awesome case by the way!

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            #35
            Unfortunately not all schools are as well funded as your one, it wasn't that long ago I was doing my computing A level (so proper programming and computer design, none of this rubbish most courses taught) and we would be lucky to get a computer on our lunch breaks. The big area where these will help is in primary school where currently there's terrible computer access. My first chance at programming was when I first started primary and got access to Logo, we had one PC that we had to share across everyone, granted things aren't so severe now, but there's certainly not enough access for that age group. Not too mention that at this price point it becomes possible to lend computers to disadvantaged students who can't afford one at home.

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              #36
              Hmm - there seems to be misunderstanding as to what R-Pi is trying to achieve here.

              It's not to churn out code monkeys (and believe me "certified" code monkeys make some of the worst programmers on the planet since Teach Yourself Java in 24 hours) - it's to give an opportunity to those who might be predisposed to following a career in IT a better grounding for a degree education in the subject by teaching the fundamental principles and skills needed for those courses; something currently lacking on the curriculum due to the move from Computer Studies to Microsoft Office.

              For the majority, Office and mail merges might well be more appropriate, but R-Pi's mission is to fill that missing gap in the pastry.

              I'd certainly agree it's down to how these things are taught though as to whether that aim will be achieved.

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                #37
                Originally posted by averybluemonkey View Post
                Unfortunately not all schools are as well funded as your one, it wasn't that long ago I was doing my computing A level (so proper programming and computer design, none of this rubbish most courses taught) and we would be lucky to get a computer on our lunch breaks. The big area where these will help is in primary school where currently there's terrible computer access. My first chance at programming was when I first started primary and got access to Logo, we had one PC that we had to share across everyone, granted things aren't so severe now, but there's certainly not enough access for that age group. Not too mention that at this price point it becomes possible to lend computers to disadvantaged students who can't afford one at home.
                My school had no IT teacher for many years but when I left to do my A Levels I tried computing (twice!) and we had access to a computer for each student, but the way it was taught was mind numbing and I dropped it. I regret that now and reading your post makes me realise how lucky I was at the time. Then again, at primary school I think once in a while we were allowed 15 minutes to mess around on a computer, that was it. In pairs. I had more access at home.

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                  #38
                  I loved IT classes. I'd do the work in about five minutes and was then allowed to do what I wanted(as long as it wasn't games).

                  My favourite school-based IT achievement was creating an Access database that looked like the RM logon screen and would save people's usernames/passwords then give a network error asking them to reboot(thus clearing my tracks). Hilariously, this hacker guy in my class had exactly the same idea that very same morning. Mine was better(all the buttons worked, including the help button, and I fiddled it to make it proper full screen whereas he just stretched the edges of the CRT to get rid of the start bar!) but I didn't actually get anyone to try it. He had the guts to ask the IT teacher - who was also one of the admins - to log in. That was tense. The guy did it as well!

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                    #39
                    billy, (amusing story aside!) you've highlighted the changes that have happened. When I was at school we programmed a database that stored names and addresses on disk (vic-20!) and could then be searched, printed etc.

                    Anyone got any actual projects lined up for one of the boards then? I'm thinking somethgin simple to begin with e.g. Metal Gear Mk4

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                      #40
                      I've no idea what IT is like now but this was waaay back in 1999(not Vic-20 days, but still). Even so, I don't remember doing any programming whatsoever until my physics degree where we had a C module in the first year. The most advanced thing we did in that module was to read data from a file and sort it numerically, something like that. Mind you, my group's final year project had us editing the Fortran source code of a molecular simulator thing but the requirements weren't anything major(just changing variables).

                      There's a nice Raspberry Pi article in this month's PC Pro and what they point out is that the gap between using and programming on a typical computer has widened over the years. When I was around eight, I used to type out programs in the back of Amstrad Action issues and there was nothing to it - the command prompt was the programming environment. You could type print "your mum" and it would do it(ok, bad example, because you can fire up a command prompt in Windows, type echo your mum, and get the same result )

                      Recently I was editing the source code of the firmware for my PS3/360 arcade stick(I wanted to create a button combo to press Guide/PS so I wouldn't need to physically add buttons to my DC stick) and I had to install Visual Studio and stuff to do it.

                      I'd love it if there was a way to integrate an easy language like BASIC into the OS itself so you could just start typing 10 print "your mum" like in the good old days, then just type run when you're finished.


                      As for projects, I wanna make a mini emulation machine but can't think of a console case small enough to put it in without wasting space. It'd also have to be a console I've owned or have some sort of affinity for. Alternatively I might just put it in a cardboard box and write Megadrive on the top.

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                        #41
                        Originally posted by billy_dimashq View Post
                        As for projects, I wanna make a mini emulation machine but can't think of a console case small enough to put it in without wasting space. It'd also have to be a console I've owned or have some sort of affinity for. Alternatively I might just put it in a cardboard box and write Megadrive on the top.
                        It is small enough to fit in a cart case

                        I will use one as a media streamer but have a couple of other geekier projects. These will be Linux based though so nothing groundbreaking.

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                          #42
                          I was thinking of getting one of those Arduino thingies but this sounds a lot more fun. Plus it seems you can interface it with... stuff, so who knows?

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                            #43
                            Some of the 'projects' people say they are going to do make me laugh. The most common being "A media server". That's not a project. That's something it can pretty much do out the gate! I had an idea to take a midi controller keyboard, put an RPi in it with a couple of speakers and a display and having it running soft synths. Hey presto a custom synthesizer.

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                              #44
                              What are the actual specs for this system? CPU speed, memory, output resolution and so on. I will get one for my son's room as an emulation system and media player for all of his Spongebob and Power Ranger shows. that way he won't keep asking to play TMNT and Simpsons arcade games on my TV via the PC.

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                                #45
                                It's has a SoC from Broadcom at its heart containing the ARM 11 CPU running at 700 MHz and GPU - this one with 256Mb RAM. It's not a beast of a machine, but the GPU is capable of decoding h264 video at 1080P.

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