Raspberry Pi to create a $25 computer to teach children programming

The Raspberry Pi Foundation, a British charity created among others by David Braben and Eben Upton is finishing up pre-production tests of a new computer by the name of Raspberry Pi which will become available by the end of November.

The computer will consist of a single board and will be slightly larger than a 20-pence coin. Though not suited for playing the most recent video games, the tiny ARM-based computer packs enough power to run a modern Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu. With the estimated cost of production unit of 25 USD and "Buy one give one" scheme the aim of the Foundation is to give young children of all backgrounds a chance to learn programming without having to purchase an expensive desktop computer. The Raspberry Pi is even adjusted to work not only with computer monitors but with common television sets, which means it can be used virtually anywhere.

Currently the project is well funded and has already received pre-production prototypes of the computer, with the final version coming very soon. The idea of a widely affordable computer is by far not new, but this is can very well be the case where it does make a great difference and bring computing even to the most distant corners of the world.

To learn more about Raspberry Pi and get news updates, visit the project's official page.