can it play chuckie egg? where does the 5 1/4" floppy go?

You've just described every single hobby ever.

Some people like different things to you, who would've guessed that?!

Questions for DellB0y the 'programmer' :
1. What is hex for decimal 256?
2. Name one opcode from the z80 processor instruction set.
3. Name a sort algorithm.
4. Name key people associated with the C programming language.
5. What does EEPROM stand for?
6. How much memory did the ZX80 ship with?

Good luck

I was hoping when I saw the title this was _actually_ a BBC Model B micro in Raspberry Pi form and cost.

Remember the days we convinced my Mum to spend 2 hours typing out 12 pages of code from a magazine, only to spend the next 5 hours finding out where all the Zeros were Ohs and debugging just to play some sh*t game of snake. :smiley:
And me almost wetting my pants when we could get rid of tape and connect up a "Winchester Drive" via ribbon cable.
Pff, kids, don't know their born :/

Wake me up when the BBC Model B is available for 7.99 and includes Scramble, Elite, Chucky Egg and Defender. Cheers.

It says July.

Does this use BASIC?

​I don't disagree - got a link?

_____
I did a Google search for "bbc micro bit free to school" and the first result is this article. Looks like it is year 7. This corresponds with my understanding. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4hVG2Br1W1LKCmw8nSm9WnQ/the-bbc-micro-bit

As one of the project partners, why would Samsung develop for other platforms?

[ https://www.microbit.co.uk/partners ]
[ http://www.samsung.com/uk/microbit/ ]
[ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsung.microbit ]

IBM! (spit spit) DEC PDP man myself....Are we really that old?

source?

cheers, hadn't heard much about it

Told my class today they were all getting a free computer once they'd studied input, output and storage devices over the next couple of lessons. "Is it a laptop or a tablet?" I was asked. I fear they are in for some disappointment until we get programming the things.

@pengwyn
PiHut have availability at the moment
https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero
(choose Zero only from dropdown for £4)

Amazing, just ordered one for my daughter off ebay last night for £19.80 delivered. Suppose at least she'll get it a couple of weeks before these pre orders.

No - this isn't a computer like the pi is. It's a progammable wearable device / controller. More like an arduino.
It has build in leds and sensors so you can make simple games or make it into an interactive badge.

It has no video output - you can't run linux or connect a keyboard.

For anyone looking to pick up a Raspberry Pi Zero

- bookmark these Pi Zero stock checker sites:
http://rpi0.satanowski.net (includes Telegram bot - add @RPiZeroBot)
http://stockalert.alexellis.io/
http://whereismypizero.com/
https://pizero.starbuckstech.com/

They released some this week and last month.
This week they were available at 9am (and then at 7pm for many hours well into the next day)

- keep your eye on the Twitter accounts of Pimoroni, PiHut etc
- keep your eye on https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi
- Subscribe to a "Pi Zero" search on HotUKDeals and get instant alerts
- You can also get a Pi Zero for free if you subscribe to a 6 or 12 month subscription to MagPi magazine

You could have bought one from Pimoroni and one from Pi Hut in the stock release last week?
Obviously it works out more than £4 that way though (~£6.50 inc P+P)

Good luck!

To all those creating PI v MB arguments each is useful in its own way. I just got a zero for £4 which is pretty much unbelieveable but they sold out in hours as did the original ones 6 months ago. Its really hard to get hold of a zero unless you want to pay an ebay leacher 30 for it. I havent used my zero yet bit i have a pi 2/3 and found as a software programmer and not electronics person the pi zero is more useful and they only let you have one when you order so if they make some every 6 months its gonna take a year to get my 2 nieces one. The year 7 niece will have the MB from school hopefully.

ok I'm reading the comments by page two all I can see is arguments....

does it run [email protected]&ing kodi???

BBC microbits are basically mbed boards with access to some custom compilers for Python/JavaScript etc. They are very nice for little projects (I would argue better than Arduino's, actually), and the Bluetooth integration is very nice, but if you want to do more "serious" embedded development (i.e. you want a bit more power, or a few more pins to work with), have a look at some of the other cheap mbed boards like the STM Nucleo range - the F411RE has a Cortex-M4 CPU with 128K RAM and can be had for £8.90 on CPC with free delivery.

Nonetheless, however, this is a very good device. I would advise buyers to check out the mbed site for the microbit, at https://developer.mbed.org/platforms/Microbit/. It's a really nice platform for embedded development, and code can be written in straight C/C++.

You don't need programming skills, you can use a 'block editor' to maybe take a picture on your Samsung smartphone - I don't know why but they have elected to only use the editing programs on Samsung Android phones and iphones.
This is a serious mistake.

Suddenly it becomes clear - he doesn't want the competition! :P

All I want to know is where did you get a quadcopter for £2?

Educating the youth of today? There's worse ways to spend it, no?

Is this really how your TV licence fee should be spent?

5 1/4" floppy? You need a deal on tape measures :smirk:

< 3 / 6.
Must try harder!

Ordered one :smile:

Lol. I started programming for a living just before the first IBM pc was launched...

:confused:

Had an hours hands on at a Microsoft demo of this device with my 6 year old son. I've now pre-ordered one as I want to expand on his use of tablets and learn that there is more to computing than consuming apps on his tablet.

They are simple to use, easy to get into and parents can help too, with no previous coding experience. All the coding can be done on any device with a web browser.

As above, no they are not a replacement for a Pi, but it gives kids a low cost bit of tech to create/imagine, problem solve and learn the basics of coding. That's got to be good surely.

No floppy uses a standard cassette tape, I believe it will load a short program in about 20 minutes, not always first time though. :smiley:
Bring back the good ol' days of computing

Some informtion on product:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36416862

Does a hologram of your nan come up?

That brings back memories, still have the Rodney Zaks book somewhere...

Seriously, these things are a great idea to get kids interested in coding.

Not a programmer any more but I did dabble a long time ago for fun.

Can I play?

18 years freelance IT consultant, predominately programming - Can't answer any but then again I wasn't a 'back
bedroom programmer'. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.......Jeez what are you boys like when you get talking about toys :wink:

This has way more features than a Pi.. You would need a lot more hardware to make a Pi do anything so it's just unbelievable how ignorant you really are.

They are useless in the same way that a Rubik's Cube or a banana are useless. An 11 year old would do well to set up a Pi, program and flash a script and run it on a Pi - in fact you wouldn't use a Pi for that. Likewise you wouldn't use this as a PC or run Kodi on it. It serves a purpose - nothing else. I'm not sure if this is a deal or worth £12.98 to anyone but it will let kids play with coding and flash scripts on a fun device.

EDIT: Just dug mine out of my bag that's been in there for a month. Had a quick play and knocked up a dice that rolls when the device is shaken in a few lines of code. My Year 7s will be in to that I think. Has some Bluetooth connectivity features also. Pretty decent.

Apparently they are quite useless without a load more extra hardware, from what i have read you may as well get the Pi. Voting cold.

BLEEP BLOOP

You clearly have literally no idea what you're talking about so please go back to watching Jeremy Kyle or whatever it is you're doing with your time thats so very valuable to humanity.

We just got our load of these at school. We'll use them with Year 7s up to the end of the year then they can take them home with them. There are several online graphical programming environments that can be used (with emulation) and the code can be compiled and downloaded to the unit by saving it directly to a mountable folder (USB) on the unit itself. There are several fun examples for kids to try, adapt etc. For adults I would say that unless there is a specific function of this device that you need to utilise you are probably better off with something else eg Arduino, Pi, Particle/Spark etc unless you just want to fool around with it - and why not?

Questions for DellB0y the 'programmer' :
1. What is hex for decimal 256?
2. Name one opcode from the z80 processor instruction set.
3. Name a sort algorithm.
4. Name key people associated with the C programming language.
5. What does EEPROM stand for?
6. How much memory did the ZX80 ship with?

Good luck

15 naked people and a bong is fun.

Hey all so I'm currently testing these little things out.
These aren't powerful computers.
They don't do everything a Pi can but they are small, LED 5x5 matrix, bluetooth enabled, low powered programmable button freebies to every year 7 next september.
If you are interested in their capabilities give this a shot (Microbit website), there are working code examples and each programming tool has a virtual machine that you can test and play with to see what the deal is. One of my favourite's is the phone finder. Press the A button and you can get your phone to make a little jingle. I currently have snake loaded onto mine.
You can also attach sensors to it. Basically you can carry out those mini tasks that a Pi is too expensive for but has buttons and a display and bluetooth.

Why even comment if you're not interested in this? It is an educational tool to get children interested in programming and electronics. They are actually pretty fun and the kids I've used them with (I'm a teacher) really enjoy using them and seeing what they can get them to do. It develops their investigation and programming skills/understanding.

This is a microcontroller rather than a traditional computer that the Raspberry Pi is. Detailed review here of what it does:

http://www.itpro.co.uk/desktop-pcs/26689/bbc-microbit-review

16K of RAM :smiley:

​Current year 7 get them. That is all. No one else.

Can you install Kodi on this

thanks bought mine!

Booyakasha!!

Can't be a good programmer if you don't understand the core value. The value of these is to teach kids how to code. Any other uses is because it's cheap and ubiquitous.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

But will it run Minecraft!!?!

Thankyou. Ordered for my kids to have a play. Don't car how powerful or not it is, getting the kids into something like this will be brilliant. And it's well supported .

His computer also can't run off a watch battery for months.

Probably too busy getting to grips with Computer Science curriculum after years of having to teach microsoft applications.

If you interested in programming concepts, Human Resource Machine is a good game (from the creators of world of goo) http://store.steampowered.com/app/375820/

[quote=mr_bigg]Can anyone give me some interesting and cool ideas of what to do with this?
I would like to get into programming so any beginner project ideas would be great.
Thanks[/quote
Pedometer, digital compass - 2 sample projects I've been teaching kids.

Check out https://microworldtour.github.io/ for some great ideas.

The programming language the Micro Bit supports are:

CodeKingdoms JavaScript: a graphical drag-and-drop interface and text-based interface, good for beginners
Microsoft Block Editor: a graphical drag-and-drop editor
Microsoft Touch Develop: a text-based language, which comes pre-installed with a library of Micro Bit commands
MicroPython: a robust, text-based editor used by professional software developers

Neither is DellB0y!

What language code does this use?

It started being distributed around April 2016 to all year 7 kids if the school applied for them. Unfortunately my son's crappy school didn't bother to apply.

I'm not a programmer, does that mean I can't have an opinion?
As a programmer should you not be encouraging people to dip their toe in the water and see if it's for them? At least that way they can see whether working with other programmers is for them....though I think looking further down the thread you've helped paint a bonny picture already.

I think people forget what these are really designed for. These are built to encourage young children to take interest in basic micro electronic principles and constructing simple electronic circuits.

Yep if you don't want these guys turning up

Do I need to pay a TV license to use this :-/

Well something strange has happened with my order for the £14.99 version.

I used TCB to bounce through before ordering, and I clicked the "PC Hardware
1.01%" link before ordering.

I paid with Paypal, and it's charged me £14.99, but £12.49 as amount and £2.50 as VAT.

TCB has taken it as being the order was £12.49 and is offering £0.62 as cashback.

Either way, I'm not rocking the boat, and see what happens. :smiley:

+1
Vive La Différence

Just because you are a programmer does not mean it has no value to others, especially children, which is the segment this is aimed at.

Would you also say that languages such as Scratch are useless because you could pick up Python or C# because they are more useful? Sometimes your needs don't always equal everyone's needs.

Gotta think a pi is better for adults (esp. Fray Bentos Minced Beef)

*very sad they didnt bring back the halftime Pie reputed to be delicious

Yeah what were we thinking?!? We will get back to watching Eastenders.

Well, I just contacted pihut, and asked for a refund of £17.50, because I ordered the micro:bit from them a few weeks back. They've pretty much instantly given it me.

So I've ordered from MS instead. Might as well save a couple of quid.

To be honest you're better off here if you're not in school and would like to learn programming.

Can it run crysis? ... sorry, I'll go....

:wink: Heated and ordered!

Can anyone give me some interesting and cool ideas of what to do with this?

I would like to get into programming so any beginner project ideas would be great.

Thanks

Thanks for the heads up...have pre-ordered the Go!

Sanctimonious? Heal thyself.

You've just described every single hobby ever.

Some people like different things to you, who would've guessed that?!

this seems very overpriced for what it is. cortex M0 cpu and 16kb ram. still, each to their own :smiley:

ordered heat added

this is cool

Are Microsoft gonna try and force Windows 10 'upgrades' onto these?
I can imagine Microsoft ninjas breaking into schools overnight to install it. :smiley:

I'm a programmer and i cba to argue with these sanctimonious attempts to win a point..really does get a bit pathetic
You go and buy one, heck buy 3

£12.98.... or only £12.80 each if you buy a pack of 300 !!! :confused:

What you're using right now is of way more use than this thing.. i think the market is losing sight of whats worth messing around with tbh

Or maybe, just maybe, things have different uses in different contexts.

Your "too much time on your hands" comment doesn't make much sense in the context of a hobby, by the way. Enjoying your free time is kind of the point.

My daughter was given one of these from school a month ago. There is also online version where you can test programming out on the microbit website and simulate what would happen on the real thing.

Well done for finding something vaguely (and i stress vaguely) worth while, however..just what would be the point exactly
Must have wayyyy too much time on your hands

Great to see more companies are now encouraging us to use Kodi more like :laughing::laughing::laughing:

can it play chuckie egg? where does the 5 1/4" floppy go?

This is being given out free to all school kids between a certain age range apparently. Around the ages of 10-12 years old, perhaps year 7, from October. Already comes with an accelerometer and compass too.

Thanks. I ordered the starter pack.

Hot +2! Nice deal.

This looks interesting, great to see that more companies are now encouraging programming :smiley: Heat added :smiley: