Raspberry Pi: A tiny PC that costs £10
The size of a 20 pence piece.
Just how small can a functional PC be? As big as a 20 pence piece. And just how cheap can a functional PC be? Between £10 and £15.
Those are the fruity specifications of the new Raspberry Pi, a spiritual successor to the BBC Micro of old.
David Braben, chairman of Frontier Developments (LostWinds, Kinectimals), is one of the key figures involved.
"We've come up with a design and made early prototypes of a machine which is really, really small and allows people who don't have access to a PC at home - which is true of a lot of kids – but do have a TV to have a device where they can browse the web, do email, YouTube, watch video very easily and cheaply," Braben told GamesIndustry.biz.
The Raspberry Pi, a self-contained PC, will be roughly the size of a USB connector end and can be plugged directly into an HDMI port. It's capable of spitting out 1080p resolutions.
Each Pi will apparently be encased in a tough crust that makes the machine more or less "indestructible", like Superman.
The idea is to spread computers to the masses so that kids, like Braben, get familiar and comfortable with technology - a skill that's necessary for today's world.
