While your taste buds dance in memory of delicious fruit pies at your favorite breakfast joint, I want to talk to you about a very special inedible Pie.\u00a0 The Raspberry Pi is a fully functional computer that is going to blow your mind.\u00a0 Raspberry Pi is making tremendous impacts in developing nations all over the world right now.\u00a0 I read new reports every few weeks about another low-income school that is installing its first computer lab built around Raspberry Pi. It\u2019s not that the Raspberry Pi is exceptionally sophisticated, or extremely fast.\u00a0 What makes the device exceptional are only a few aspects:<\/p>\n
- \n
- It\u2019s very simple to setup and use<\/li>\n
- It\u2019s really inexpensive<\/li>\n
- The software is free, fairly easy to use and virus free!<\/li>\n
- And did I mention it is really inexpensive?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Raspberry Pi is a very small computer about the size of your old phone.\u00a0 The company likes to say it\u2019s the size of a credit card, but it stands about 2 centimeters tall.\u00a0 The newest version of the Pi comes with two USB ports, a 700 MHz processor, 512mb of memory, an old-school RCA video out, a newer HDMI digital video out, a sound card, a network card, and that\u2019s it.\u00a0 Although the Pi really is a fully-functional computer, like any other<\/p>\n
![\"Raspberry](\"http:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/brd\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Swazberry-Pi-300x224.jpg\")
<\/a>Swazberry Pi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n computer, it requires additional items to actually be useful. The power cable is the same one used for data on Kindles, Androids, and a lot of newer Nokias.\u00a0 These can be purchased at nearly any phone shop in the country. All of these items can be purchased in Swaziland at some of the bigger computer shops such as Computronics<\/a> (Don\u2019t forget to visit their coffee shop while you pick up accessories).\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n
Anyone who has talked to me about computers longer than 5 minutes will catch me saying something about Linux and other \u201cFree and open-source software (FOSS).\u201d\u00a0 The importance of FOSS can be truly appreciated in the form of the Raspberry Pi.\u00a0 This software is free to modify, free to distribute, and free to do whatever you want with it.\u00a0 The free nature of the software also allows you to add on loads of other free software, from software similar to Microsoft office to math and memory card games for the wee ones.\u00a0 You can also go the route of the Kingdom of Bhutan and install Khan Academy<\/a> software on the Raspberry Pi and use it as a server for other computers!<\/b><\/p>\n
Truly the best part about Linux in relation to computers in Swaziland is its near immunity to viruses and malicious software. You can insert USB sticks from anyone\u2019s computer into a Raspberry Pi and it will not get infected by a virus.\u00a0 This feature should sell any hesitant ICT teachers.\u00a0 The software itself needs to be copied to an SD card before turning the Pi on.\u00a0 To add any additional software requires the Pi to be connected to the Internet, or you to download it once, then copy it to all the SD cards manually.\u00a0 Once you have a single Pi the way you want it, it\u2019s a fast process to spin up a lab of 10 of these things.<\/p>\n
Do you remember what I said about the Raspberry Pi being inexpensive?\u00a0 I recently purchased my first Raspberry Pi for $35.99 US.\u00a0 Plus shipping and the generic white case for it, I totaled a purchase of this wonderful device for $49.49.\u00a0 And it arrived a week later as it was sent from South Africa.\u00a0 If you convert it to Emalangeni at the average exchange rate of E8=$1 then we are talking E396.\u00a0 That is a functional computer starting at less than E400, excluding Swaziland shipping charges. Order yours from RS Delivers <\/b><\/a>in South Africa.<\/p>\n
I mentioned above that the Pi comes without any of the stuff you need to actually make it useful.\u00a0 In the table below I have outlined a really generic price estimate of how much E would be needed to bake your own Pi.\u00a0 At E1625 I will tell you this is 1\/3 the price of any desktop computer or laptop I have seen in the country. For less than $2500 a computer lab with 10 Pi could be outfitted.\u00a0 This figure means some locations with lower resources for computers may finally have an option within reach.<\/p>\n
\n\n
\n Rasberry Pi + basic case<\/b><\/td>\n 400<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Keyboard<\/b><\/td>\n 75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Mouse<\/b><\/td>\n 50<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n HDMI<\/span> TV (to use as a monitor)<\/b><\/td>\n 1300 *<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n SD Card<\/b><\/td>\n 100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Power Cord<\/b><\/td>\n 100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n HDMI or RCA cable<\/b><\/td>\n 100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n TOTAL<\/b><\/td>\n 2125 *<\/span>
\n<\/b>(*table edited August 1, 2013)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\u00a0<\/b>If you have interest in the Raspberry Pi, I have lots of resources, and a Swazi friend at UNISWA that is testing a few out.\u00a0 Additionally the Swaziland Computer Society has a few http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/Swazi.computers<\/a>, and they would be an excellent source of information on Raspberry Pi, and any other computer questions related to technology in Swaziland.<\/p>\n
![\"Raspberry](\"http:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/brd\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Swazberry-Pi.jpg\")
<\/a>