Thursday, August 15, 2013

The World's Cheapest Computer


The World's Cheapest Computer Cross Sales of 1.5 Million

Bangalore: Weighing just below 50 grams and bearing the size of a credit card is Raspberry Pie, world’s cheapest and probably the smallest computer. What was built as a medium to educate students’ on basic computer coding has now crossed sales numbers of more than 1.5 million, reports NDTV Gadgets.

The small computer developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation on the open source Linux platform is retailing for $25. So far, it has found its use in robots in Japan to the warehouse doors in Malawi, to photographing astral bodies from the United States.

According to Eben Upton, executive director of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, "We're closing in on one and a half million (sales) for something that we thought would sell a thousand. It was just supposed to be a little thing to solve a little problem.”

"We've sold many more to children than we expected to sell, but even more to adults. They're using it like Lego to connect things up," he continued.

The ability to customize Raspberry Pie has sparked worldwide interest, prompting the inventors to exploit the potential of this small computer. Inventors like Shota Ishiwatari from Tokyo has created a humanoid robot which can tell the weather, sort personal calendars and even make coffee.

There are also groups like Raspberry Jams spread across different countries, who conduct random meetings to discuss about new ideas.

Upton’s team in the non-profit Raspberry Pi foundation has plans to further improve computer education to children. The foundation is now in discussions with the British government on introducing a new IT curriculum.

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