I cut my computing teeth on an IBM 360 mainframe in the mid 1970s. I recall countless hours in the university computer center submitting punch card decks and waiting, sometimes hours, for the printed output. The first computer I owned was a Commodore 64, another groundbreaking piece of tech that required I learn Basic to be able to operate it. This was followed by a string of Microsoft DOS desktops followed by Windows desktops and then Android devices. Recently I acquired my latest and in some ways coolest computer—the Raspberry Pi. What would have been science fiction even a few decades ago is a reality today. This is why you need a Raspberry Pi computer..
What Is a Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a very small and very capable computer system that is about the size of a credit card. It was developed at Cambridge University in the UK to make computing accessible to K-12 students so they would be prepared for advanced study of computer science in college. The goals of the developers were to keep the purchase cost low (prices start at $5.00) and to make it compatible with tech people already own. It can be operated with a cell phone charger and a television can be used as the display. Even the top of the line model with all peripherals including a display is a little over $200. That Pi has 2000 times more memory than my first IBM 360. The Pi isn’t as fast as my desktop gaming rig, but it is a highly capable machine.
The Pi comes with a command line operating system that reminds me of my old DOS days, and it comes with a graphical user interface familiar to Apple and Windows users. Maybe best of all, you have a choice of computer languages to use if you want to program your Pi. Scratch is a program designed to teach programming to children, and Python (where the name ‘Pi” comes from) is the main language for programming a Pi.
What Can a Pi Do?
The Pi can do anything your desktop or laptop computer can do given the right software, all of which is free open access. You can analyze data, draw pictures, listen to music, play games, and web surf. There is a Pi productivity suite that is similar to Microsoft Office. All of these capabilities make the Pi a general use computer that is available to people on a budget.
Where the Pi really shines is in the ad-on accessories that turn the Pi into more than just a desktop equivalent. The Pi was designed to allow easy communication to peripheral devices, such as camera add-ons and sensor array (you can make a weather station that captures barometric pressure, humidity, and temperature).
Why You Need a Raspberry Pi Computer
The cool thing about the Raspberry Pi is that you have far more control of your system than you do with your desktop or laptop computer. It isn’t as easy as just plugging the Pi into the power supply and peripherals. You have to learn how the parts work together and have to do some configuring. It is fun to be able to play with the hardware, and experiment with configurations that teach you how computers work. Of course, to make the most of your Pi, you should learn to program it. Scratch is a good starting language for children and others who are not ready to dive into writing code. It teaches the elements of programming without having to memorize syntax—the commands that form the computer language. For those who know programming or want to move beyond Scratch, there is Python, which is a fully featured general use language. So if you want to learn more about computing, the Pi is a capable and cheap device that allows you to do just that.
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