A hand-held computer called the Raspberry Pi has gone on sale in the UK for just £22 this week, aimed at teaching children how to programme and code.
After going on sale yesterday, the motherboard device sold out within hours. Massive demand for the computer has caused the website of one supplier, Leeds-based Premier Farnell, to crash under the weight of heavy traffic.
The credit card-sized gadget was created by volunteers at the charitable organisation, the Raspberry Pi Foundation.
It has neither keyboard nor monitor and is a skeleton of a computer, showing the inner components of the mini PC.
Commentators have said the device could help inspire a new generation of programmers to tackle the lack of coding skills in the UK.
The £22 Raspberry Pi includes an Ethernet port but a cheaper model will be unveiled later this year for just £16.
The pocket-sized PC runs the operating system Linux – a free alternative to Windows or Mac OS, which helps keep the price ultra-low.
The chips and connectors allow users to connect cameras and other gadgets via USB, and are powerful enough to deal with hi-def video and sound.
http://www.raspberrypi.org/
View a video from the BBC explaining how the gadget works below:
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