A test version of the Raspberry Pi computer  has attracted more than £3,000 in a fund-raising auction on eBay. With the machine about to start its first major production run, could it be the right tool to revitalise computer science in schools?

“Consider our gast well and truly flabbered” blogged Liz Upton of the Raspberry Pi team in response to news that an auction of 10 trial versions of the computers had attracted offers worth thousands of pounds.

The highest bid for one of the beta versions is over £3,000, more than a hundred times the planned asking price for the most expensive model of £22.

The uncased, credit-card sized, 700MHz machines are an unlikely “must have” but with a mailing list of more than 50,000 members, Raspberry Pi have found that plenty of people think they’re a good thing.

The Pi’s creators all hope the bare-bones computers will play an important role in encouraging children to learn how to code.

The beta machines on auction were produced as a test ahead of a longer production run and proceeds will go towards supporting the project.

The first tranche of machines is expected to begin production this month.  Eben Upton, founder and trustee of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, wasn’t able to give exact numbers but has said it will likely be in the low thousands.

Monday January 16^th 2012
The Onlines