Raspberry Pi project leader Eben Upton talks about the state of Raspberry Pi, and tells us that yes — finally — they now have distributors in the U.S. and other countries instead trying to ship every unit from the U.K. Even better, instead of buying a batch of boards, selling them, and only then ordering another batch, the new distribution agreements mean they can keep a steady flow of orders coming in and going out.
It’s nice to know there will be a local source, not just for the U.S. but for other countries who might have difficulty ordering from the U.K.
So far it looks like my order from Farnell will go smoothly, though they seem to be billing the shipping separately. I’ve been charged ~$6 so far but not the other ~$35 yet. My unit doesn’t ship until April though, so that may be why.
April 26 for me. Long wait, but alas, worth it.
Mine is April 23rd, and yes very much worth the wait! I have several projects in mind, as well as possibly gifting one to my 11 year old niece who has shown an interest in computers and game development.
First and foremost, RISC OS – without a single shred of doubt. I have been wanting to use this OS for more than a decade.
Second, XBMC. A lot will depend on how well it handles HD video of different types.
I’d love to give RISC a run as well.
I’m looking at using my first board as a test bed for projects like an XBMC media center, Android-based car computer, MAME/Console emulator (think one of those mini tabletop arcade machines with a 7″ screen and real controls), home security/automation control center, maybe even wearable computing.
For each successful project I’ll order another board to complete the package, and continue testing with the original.
Yes, yes and yes.Looking forward to this myself. Wouldn’t it be nice if computing was fun again…there is hope yet.
With all the options & toys available, now much more inexpensively than in the 80s or early 90s, computing can be more fun than ever. People just don’t exploit it much…
(yeah, the “old times were better” bias here is probably also with how, in the past, seemingly greater proportion of people tinkered – but that’s most likely only because ~computers were of less interest for the masses; I wouldn’t be surprised if absolute number of tinkerers steadily increased since then)
So… something against emulation, I suppose?
Otherwise, I’m not sure what’s stopping you – after a quick search, I got to http://www.marutan.net/rpcemu/ and http://www.marutan.net/rpcemu/ro5.html ROM image (with perhaps-latest version here http://www.riscosopen.org/content/downloads/other-zipfiles …or maybe this http://www.riscosopen.org/forum/forums/5/topics/828 one? Ah yes, also a forum: http://www.riscosopen.org/forum/forums/10 )
And so, as I’m posting this, an emulated RISC OS machine runs happily in a window right by (I love the cursor function where it shows if “wait for 2nd click in double-click” is still active)
Edited 2012-03-02 07:05 UTC
I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but for me there’s just something about running an OS on the bare metal that emulation can never…well, emulate.
For example, I keep a circa 2001 Dell laptop around that happens to run BeOS R5 with 100% compatibility. It’s just not the same in a window on my dual core, 4GB box.
Hey, I can understand appreciation for hardware – when you write just above, “I’d love to give RISC a run as well” …I suppose, meaning specifically on R-Pi, because it would be fun. And, after all, I’m toying with the idea of using IRC and IM via a C64 – something which doesn’t really have much of practical point.
But what Thom seems to allude to, finally being able to ~discover RISC OS, is a bit distinct. Plus it’s not like Raspberry Pi will give exactly the “original” experience, possibly even not with any less bugs than under emulator – and an emu might be even smoother, considering the power of modern PC CPUs and a bit anemic one in R-Pi (BTW that, a fan of Golden Age of Arcades, I suppose? Many/most of later MAME-emulated games won’t really run at very convincing speeds on R-Pi, after all
)
Edited 2012-03-02 07:50 UTC
Yeah, I keep a PowerMac 9500 with stock dual processors for BeOS. Something about booting BeOS PR2 is just COOL!
RISCOS, what you will find –
1) requires a 3 button mouse, absolutely will not function correctly without one! (I had an A7000 with a PS/2 port, and damn, when I misplaced the mouse it came with, I was screwed!)
2) co-operative multitasking kind of sucks.
3) lack of memory protection is a big issue.
4) some very strange design decisions that no one else picked up, and for a good reason!
5) hardly any of the legacy software will run. I found that even on my A7000, which had a really low end ARM processor when compared to RISC PC’s. Though, I did get a copy of Elite to run, which was really cool!
For a lot of Brits of my age, RISCOS is full of nostalgia. Like Commodore 64 or Apple 2 for Americans. The built in basic is good. The built in basic has an inline assembler, which is amazing. But, the OS itself (and pare in mind 3.7 was the last version I used) is kind of ugly and sort of unfinished looking. It’s no BeOS for looks.
With the “current” (as far as we can even use this word about RISC OS) development version, that I linked nearby above, the looks… didn’t really change at all.
BTW, C64 (or Amiga) is probably like that for most of Europe – it seems that largely just you, the British, really tried to go your way (staunchly resisted the former colonies?)
Well that and, curiously, how the ZX Spectrum (kinda – many clones at least) also took hold in the Soviet Union.
From what I’ve read online so far is that the GPU supports hardware decode for a plethora of media formats … but RPi only licensed the H.264 codec to keep the total cost down.
Oh, the possibilities… Computing is a great.
pi 1: webserver. (debian)
pi 2: plugged into my tv. (debian/android)
pi 3: i’ll get a case and look at using it as a mobile media device. Car, lounge, work etc… get some bluetooth happening and that could be free up my phone.
Get a usb touch screen on one of these bad boys and you are set!
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/463879859/8_LCD_Touch_Monitor_wit…
If only they would actually sell one to me now…
I’m looking at this one myself:
http://www.dinodirect.com/7inch-lcd-hd-touchscreen-monitor.html
I like the form factor and the price. Do you happen to know the cost of the unit you listed? Alibaba won’t show me a price without giving my email address.
Yep, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on one and using it for some DIY stuff… I miss the userport! Have done plenty of hardware stuff on Amigas and the likes, but this really looks to be actually designed for that sort of thing!
A nice touchscreen LCD is a great idea, though for simpler applications, CrystalFontz (http://www.crystalfontz.com/) make some fantastic modules for projects like these…
Thank you for the link! I believe I have one of their 16×2 backlit boards in the parts bin, though I got it secondhand.
Now that I think of it, at the part time job I’ve got a ton of 7″ LCDs from some non-working Coby portable DVD players. I wonder how hard it would be to figure out how to address one of those…HDMI is probably out of the question but the RPi does have that handy composite out! In fact, I believe the RPi will fit very well in the DVD player shell.
This is going to be so much fun!