6 ms·
It reminds me of what Apple does when it redefines a product category by "just" bringing together existing technology into a more convenient form factor and UX.
by codysan 6y ago
It reminds me of what Apple does when it redefines a product category by "just" bringing together existing technology into a more convenient form factor and UX.
That's a wonderful observation. The form factor is as clever as it is logical. Stuff like this makes me really optimistic for the future of Raspberry Pi (and widespread computing!).
- geerlingguy 6y agoIt's one of those designs where you kind of go "ah yes, I thought that would be a good idea". But before you saw it you might never have planned it in your head exactly the way it is. The iPod was like that for me, with its scrolling click wheel. Like getting to the platonic form of a specific type of device. The Pi 400 is the completion of the idea of an educational computer for kids, IMO. It's not going to compete with a Mac mini or anything like that, and the keyboard is likely not going to be anyone's top choice for a 'professional' keyboard. But it's good enough in all the right ways as a general purpose computer.
- paulcarroty 6y ago> the idea of an educational computer for kids Especially for poor kids in Africa/Asia/etc. Hope it will be the "educational iPod" for them.
- ilrwbwrkhv 6y agoand it is british. anecdotally in terms of longevity and development i have seen they do the best job.
- qz2 6y agoAs a British person we tend to tell everyone we do that and people believe it. However it’s not necessarily true. We produced a ridiculously large amount of crap to the point we nearly killed our manufacturing industry. If there’s anything to aspire to its Hewlett Packard’s test and measurement and computing offerings between 1960 and 1990.
- forty 6y agoI cannot resist the urge of sharing this wonderful sequence (also made in UK :) ): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1EBfxjSFAxQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1EBfxjSFAxQ
- acomjean 6y agoMy mom had an MGB in the late 60/early 70s. While she loved that car she didn’t love it’s reliability. Those Brompton folding bikes are pretty well made, though pricey even with the deflated pound.
- nextos 6y agoPerhaps that was the case with e.g. vintage sports cars from the 50s and 60s. But I don't think the British manufacturing industry has been doing well ever since. I would love to be wrong, though.
- markb139 6y agoAccording the uk official national statistics manufacturing product sales for 2019 was £396 billions.
- pmontra 6y agoStats for all the EU at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/prodcom/data/excel-files-nace-rev.2 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/prodcom/data/excel-files-n... years 1995 to 2019.
- nextos 6y agoI meant in terms of quality.
- yodelshady 6y agoEver watched formula 1? I'll bet you're thinking of British Leyland, which behaved a bit like Boeing currently does. But much, much worse, and at every level. British companies that are aware they can fail produce quality just fine. It's a fairly simple tale.
- nix23 6y agoSometimes it still is, Rolls-Royce (Engines and Turbines) are still the Topline.
- moonbug 6y agoIf you believe that, I've got a vintage Allegro to sell you.
- tonyedgecombe 6y agoMy dad had one of those, it had so many faults they gave him a new one after a year. I wrote off the new one a few days later.
- moonbug 6y agoYou got lucky.
- bitbckt 6y agoI can’t stop laughing at this. No /s?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- __m 6y agoBritish jokes have the highest quality
- scruffyherder 6y agoMaybe it’ll be adopted better than the Sinclair QL, you know that cheap British 16bit micro of the future... /s
- interestica 6y agoThe one weird thing to me is their mouse placement decision. Their promo photos and videos show it on the left side because of the most convenient usb port. I have never actually seen a left-placed mouse in the wild. Having it all look so clean and organized in the promo is a bit disingenuous. In reality, the mouse will be on the right, and the cable will have to cross over top of all cables except the ethernet and usbc power. For such a beautiful form factor, it will look like a mess.
- blisterpeanuts 6y agoThe keyboard comes with Bluetooth 5.0; maybe the promo would look a bit cleaner with a bluetooth mouse, or at least a 2.4GHz wireless mouse and dongle.
- cstross 6y ago> I have never actually seen a left-placed mouse in the wild. Then you've never seen my desk! (About 10-15% of the population is left-handed) But really, the Pi 400 supports Bluetooth 5. So I expect many/most folks will go wireless for their rodents.
- fortran77 6y agoI'm right-handed, but I mouse with my left hand. It works well for me and I've been doing it for decades.
- otto2 6y agoMe too. Due to some issues with right hand I retrained myself to use mouse with my left hand. Now I can use mouse by both hands, and in both button orientations.
- interestica 6y agoYou basically just convinced me that I should be training my left hand to use my mouse. In all cases except precision work (eg graphic design) it should be doable.
- NoOneNew 6y agoIt's a laptop minus the screen... that's all it amounts to. It's a keyboard with the proc and memory underneath it. I don't understand how any of this is revolutionary or special. Hell, it doesn't even have a battery.
- macjohnmcc 6y agoI think the price alone makes it revolutionary. Laptops aren't $100 brand new and if it were what would that screen look like? Most people who would benefit from this price probably have a TV they can connect it to.
- flubert 6y ago>Laptops aren't $100 brand new Getting close? https://www.newegg.com/p/0G6-00ZK-002K5?Item=9SIA6Z72ED8144 https://www.newegg.com/p/0G6-00ZK-002K5?Item=9SIA6Z72ED8144 https://www.newegg.com/p/1TS-003M-00001?Item=9SIA7Z046M4434 https://www.newegg.com/p/1TS-003M-00001?Item=9SIA7Z046M4434
- alsargent 6y agoAlso, screens last a long time, but it's the computers themselves that need continual ugrading. Case in point: we have a Dell screen from 18 year ago. The Dell desktop long since became obsolete. So this makes a lot of sense economically, especially for cash-strapped organizations like schools that have to manage large fleets of machines. Stuff that isn't touched and lasts long (screens) don't get replaced. Stuff that is touched (and likely to wear out over time) like keyboards or gets out of date due to Moore's Law (computer) is fused into one package, so there are fewer cables to worry about getting unplugged, worn out, etc.
- NoOneNew 6y agoThat's fair, but there's another problem. It's hard enough to find a regular educator that's qualified to teach kids about computers on a Windows or Apple. Linux is going to be easier?