Michaelmas term 2012 computing industry. The ‘Pi’ bit came from the plan to use the Python Programming Language. I remember thinking I didn’t like the name, but with hindsight it has proved very popular and perhaps a little quirky and British.
that they use programming to play and create, and that many have become hooked who had shown no interest previously.
How are Raspberry Pi owners influencing how it’s used and your future plans? Did you have any inkling how popular the computer would be? Rob: Going back through my emails from around Christmas time it was obvious we didn’t. We even had a plan to pack and ship them ourselves at one point. I think early estimates were 1,000 per month.
Rob: One of the strongest parts of the project is the community that has built up and that’s great because they’ve made a huge contribution to the platform and they’re now producing really fun projects with the Raspberry Pi. Also, if you go online and read the forums you quickly realise there are people with very little experience and people with a lifetime of experience coming together and sharing ideas and explaining how to do things with each other.
What challenges did you face? Eben: We had some problems finding a UK manufacturer for the device for a variety of reasons. The technology level of the board is a bit high for UK manufacturers, and in general the cost structure [was a problem]. There are issues with how the UK electronics manufacturing industry is set up, in terms of its cost base. In terms of getting the thing designed, we had all the skills we needed within the Raspberry Pi Foundation.
‘We even had a plan to pack and ship them ourselves at one point.’
You’ve both had full-time day jobs throughout the project, how have you found the time to work on Raspberry Pi? Eben: Weekends and evenings. And we just don’t do anything else! Rob: My daughter was born 16 months ago too. The whole project is lots of fun, which helps enormously. There is a lot of goodwill out there too, from companies and individuals, which makes all the difference.
What excites you most about Raspberry Pi? Rob: The feeling that we’re beginning to have some impact. There’s a lot of energy around the project and it’s helping as a catalyst to spark children’s interest in computer science and learning to program. The hope is that it will really make a difference over the next few years. The government has begun to take notice and there’s hopefully going to be a very good new GCSE in computer science. We’ve also had feedback from parents whose children have started to program as a result of the project. It’s great to hear
Robert Mullins is Director of Studies for Computer Science and a Fellow of St John’s.
ude helium balloon webcam > firewall > musical instrument > media centre > autonomous boat to cross the Atlantic > flash trigger > vacuum cleaner > model railway controller > miniature arcade machine running ‘Street Fighter II’ >
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