Raspberry Pi goes on sale

A credit-card sized computer designed in Britain to encourage children to learn programming has gone on sale for £22.

The Raspberry Pi was launched on 29 February by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a charity based in Cambridge. Demand was so great that the websites of the two companies selling it crashed within minutes.

A computer for the price of a textbook

The Raspberry Pi is a bare circuit board with a processor, memory, a USB socket, an HDMI connection for a television and a slot for an SD card, which stores its software. Users need to add their own keyboard, mouse and screen.

The model on sale, known as Model B, costs about £22 plus VAT. A cheaper Model A is planned.

It runs a version of the free Linux operating system and can be used for programming, browsing the web, playing high-definition video and many other tasks.

Why it was made

The idea came from Eben Upton and colleagues at the University of Cambridge's computer laboratory. They noticed that fewer students applying to study computer science had experience of programming than in the 1980s and 1990s.

Back then, many children learned to program on home computers such as the BBC Micro and the Sinclair Spectrum. Today, many young people use computers and games consoles every day but have no idea how they work.

The foundation hopes that a cheap computer which children can experiment with, and not worry about breaking, will inspire a new generation of programmers.

Computing in schools

The launch comes amid growing concern about how computing is taught in schools. The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has criticised the information and communication technology curriculum, saying it focuses too much on using office software and not enough on programming.

Google's chairman, Eric Schmidt, said last year that Britain was throwing away its great computing heritage by failing to teach computer science properly.

Huge demand

The foundation had expected to sell a few thousand units, but received orders for many times that on the first day. The computers are being made in China, and buyers face a wait for delivery.

Hobbyists and engineers have also shown great interest, seeing the Raspberry Pi as a cheap way to build gadgets, robots and home projects.