On Mon, 26 Oct 2015 22:38:03 +0000, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:

>> Depends a lot on what you want to teach.
> 
> I guess the Pi by itself doesn't do a lot; it's great for building crazy
> robots, if *electronics* is what you're trying to teach. But you need
> more components to make a usable computer out of it. And then there's so
> many other bits plugged in, you lose sight of the fact that the little
> circuit board in the middle is the part that's actually "doing" stuff.

I've got OpenELEC running on one; it makes a reasonable media server.

Nothing else really plugged in, either.  HDMI, external hard drive, 
power.  Wireless keyboard/mouse combo that I generally don't use.

>>> Don't get me wrong, I think it's *way* easier to learn system-level
>>> programming on obsolete hardware. (It's how *I* did it!) But I doubt
>>> many kids these days would get out of bed to see some blocky 8-bit
>>> graphics.
>>
>> Also depends on what you want to teach.
> 
> When I was a kid, 8-bit graphics were all you could ask for. I can
> actually recall spending *multiple hours* playing Space Invaders. I
> can't imagine why; today it seems like the most boring game imaginable!
> It wouldn't hold my attention for ten seconds. And that's kinda my
> point; kids these days have smartphones in their pockets. Why would they
> bother with this obsolete thing? (Unless you manage to convince them
> that its arcane-ness makes it "special" rather than just dumb.)

Lower end equipment can help kids and students understand where the 
technology comes from and how it developed over time.  Understanding the 
past is useful to seeing ways in which things can be done in the future.

>>> Which is why they invented the Pi, with it's full-HD video and audio
>>> capabilities and 3D rendering support... Which thus makes it
>>> impossible to do system-level programming, kinda negating the point.
>>
>> You certainly can do system-level programming on the RPi.  How do you
>> think you get a kernel developed to run on it? ;)
> 
> You're aware that to this day, the OS includes a closed-source binary
> blob that only people who sign an NDA are allowed to look inside, right?
> Literally, you cannot operate the GPU without signing an NDA or using
> closed-source code. And since this is a mobile phone SoC, the GPU
> controls the CPU, not the other way around...

Yes, but that's true on a lot of PCs that run Linux as well.  That 
doesn't mean you can't do system-level programming on it.

> But sure, once you've started the CPU, you can do system-level
> programming. Good luck getting anything interesting done; it's not like
> you can just poke 53280 to change the overscan colour... ;-)

I think there's a lot you can do that's interesting without any video at 
all.

>>> And besides, for £0 you can probably just *download* a Spectrum
>>> emulator onto your PC or indeed phone or tablet... You don't actually
>>> need a physical box.
>>
>> Not the same, and as I said, it depends on what you want to teach.
> 
> I will admit, particularly for a younger audience, there's a certain
> something to having it be a hardware box.

Absolutely.

Jim



-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

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