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A £15 computer sounds cool, but programming can be done in your web browser. Just write some javascript and let the whole world instantly see your creation.

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That's what I don't like about modern computing, there's too many layers of middleware. With web browsers you lose the link between the software and hardware, it's too abstract and theoretical.

That spark of interest comes from seeing something real (which is physical and easy to understand), and being able to control it by using code. Think arduino, not emulation.

All that said, I am a web developer, the main reason I got into it was the simplicity of technologies like HTML, PHP etc. Whereas nowadays, even web development is dominated by abstract ideas like OOP, APIs and frameworks, so it's becoming less interesting in that respect.

Yeah but you only need to spend £15 on the computer to fire the web browser up on now.

The misleading thing about the '£15' Raspberry Pi is that the main peripheral I/O is via USB, so to get this device on the 'net you must factor in at least another £17 minimum for a powered USB hub and USB network adaptor - and then we have a £32 USEABLE computer. It would have cost about £2 to add an RJ45 Ethernet adaptor to the basic design so I hope this will be considered in due course (I have contacted the developers about this)

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