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Piplay (formally pimame) kick starter for R-pi & BeagleBone Black
Generic Eric:
--- Quote from: nadcraker on April 29, 2014, 12:46:51 pm ---What kinds of games is the Raspberry Pi suited for? Can it play 90's era games or just the classics?
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Superhexagon.
SavannahLion:
--- Quote from: ark_ader on May 06, 2014, 06:21:10 am ---The Pi was supposed to introduce programming to the UK schools, that we're pushing ICT to its students.
I haven't seen too many schools adopting the Pi, but the spirit was there for the A model that supposed to be like a USB key. Priced so any child could afford a computer that was more than a console.
Now I see this kick starter and it sends a message to the organizers of the Pi, that it was a waste of time. I think this a classic example of a bad idea, then the kids should be learning to code and not distracted by playing console games. Nice that the guy has a project, but unless he is teaching the youngsters how to code emulators, this is an incredible waste of resources.
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I rather think the Pi is somewhat positioned wrong. It's a noble cause but relatively few kids in first world countries have little interest in understanding the underpinnings of what makes their precious Smart phones work. Worse yet, there are precious few parents who understand the same. To many parents, their annoying iPad is nothing more than magic accompanied with a hefty share of Voodoo and a spicing of terrorism. Some even go so far as to believe the ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow--- that hacking is wrong, illegal, and supports terrorist activities.
Heaven forbid should little Johnny get a computer without a precious case in the mail.
ark_ader:
The USB key version (pictured below) would be portable enough to carry around to a friends house. The current iteration looks like it would stab you in the leg (at least leave marks) if you carried around in your pocket. This is one of the reasons why the Pi wasn't adopted by the schools as it needed a case. Also schools were not given the priority to purchase the units first. It immediately became the modder platform for low powered projects. Now we have to suffer through the adoption of previous console ports, just because it is there.
The only decent product for mainstream business use if the ability to use it as a thin client, not an arcade machine. ::)
Now this device totally kicks the Pi's arse and is similarly priced, plays arcade games fluidly, has a case and can boot Linux too.
SavannahLion:
I think the group didn't initially give schools priority buy was because there was virtually nothing out there. It's fine if you want to push a new product onto schools but most schools don't have a budget for any sort of internal support much less any sort of external support contracts. I think the group was trying to bulk up the community (ala Arduino) so the teachers and students have someone to turn to.
Which kind of leads me to my next point. I can't vouch for the rest of the world, but schools up to the High School level state side are practically being spoon fed the curriculum. It's kind of embarrassing really but I digress, Pi isn't going to be a part of any school, at all, if it doesn't make it into the curriculum (or that whole Obama :censored: gets :censored: :censored:). I would imagine that the group was hoping to get enough market penetration that more schools might take notice. I dunno, I'm just guessing.
That whole ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow--- with the NDA and the ---fouled up beyond all recognition--- up boot sequence might have something to do with it. That would be a stretch, but if a product markets itself as a student worthy product where they can get into the nuts and bolts but proceeds to hide some of it away, I would look elsewhere.
But yeah, a shell is necessary, at least a clear one. In college, we beat the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- out of the 68HC11 boards just by moving them around. I think the hardware class spent half their time soldering those poor boards back together so the software class can hammer away at them.
yotsuya:
--- Quote from: SavannahLion on May 07, 2014, 01:20:39 am ---Which kind of leads me to my next point. I can't vouch for the rest of the world, but schools up to the High School level state side are practically being spoon fed the curriculum. It's kind of embarrassing really but I digress, Pi isn't going to be a part of any school, at all, if it doesn't make it into the curriculum (or that whole Obama :censored: gets :censored: :censored:). I would imagine that the group was hoping to get enough market penetration that more schools might take notice. I dunno, I'm just guessing.
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I've been in education since 1996. This stuff has been going on WELL before someone got elected in 2008.