What an absolutely fantastic bit of kit.

Why the Tories want to get stop this sort of innovation and public service by the BBC to stop is beyond me (well it’s not, they have an ideological opposition to a broadcaster that they can’t influence via an owner but you get the point), it’s the sort of thing that makes me genuinely proud to be British.

Key features include:

25 red LEDs to light up, flash messages, create games and invent digital stories
Two programmable buttons activated when pressed. Use the micro:bit as a games controller. Pause or skip songs on a playlist.
On-board motion detector or ‘accelerometer’ that can detect movement and tell other devices you’re on the go. Featured actions include shake, tilt and freefall. Turn the micro:bit into a spirit level. Light it up when something is moved. Use it for motion-activated games.
A built-in compass or ‘magnetometer’ to sense which direction you’re facing, your movement in degrees, and where you are. Includes an in-built magnet, and can sense certain types of metal.
Bluetooth Smart Technology to connect to the internet and interact with the world around you. Connect the micro:bit to other micro:bits, devices, kits, phones, tablets, cameras and everyday objects all around. Share creations or join forces to create multi-micro:bit masterpieces. Take a selfie. Pause a DVD or control your playlist.
Five Input and Output (I/O) rings to connect the micro:bit to devices or sensors using crocodile clips or 4mm banana plugs. Use the micro:bit to send commands to and from the rings, to power devices like robots and motors.

Each element of the BBC micro:bit is completely programmable via easy-to-use software on a dedicated website (available later in the summer at microbit.co.uk) that can be accessed from a PC, tablet or mobile. Your personal area on the website will allow you to save and test your creations in a simulator before they are transferred to your micro:bit, and the available tools scale to be as complex as your ideas, imagination and skills require.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/microbit

That’s pretty cool actually.

The actual tech isn’t anything particularly radical, but the penetration that they’re aiming for is brilliant. “up to 1 million devices will be given to every 11 or 12 year old child in year 7 or equivalent across the UK, for free.”

Very cool.

Seems to tread into Arduino/Raspberry Pi territory – especially the Pi for learning in schools etc. But a bit of competition is always good.

Yeah, I thought that, but it’s a nice compact little ‘all in 1’ device rather than needing add-ons to get started.

The RasPi doesn’t need add-ons to get started either really.

Obviously a screen, keyboard and mouse are helpful unless you are just going to remote into it.

But the micro:bit actually requires a whole other PC/tablet to program it, whereas the Pi is self-contained.

Reading the list of suppliers and backers on the BBC blog entry it sounds like they’ve got all the right people involved for it to be a success.

Sauce ?

So if you need a PC/Phone/tablet and wifi or bluetoooth to make it do it’s thing, why not just teach the programming and interaction on the pc/phone/tablet?

So if you need a PC/Phone/tablet and wifi or bluetoooth to make it do it’s thing, why not just teach the programming and interaction on the pc/phone/tablet?

Fancy having wires and bits soldered onto your iPad?

So if you need a PC/Phone/tablet and wifi or bluetoooth to make it do it’s thing, why not just teach the programming and interaction on the pc/phone/tablet?

This has LEDs and buttons. From experience in code clubs with small children, they can do some coding in Python or something and thats OK, but real interest really builds when lights start flashing and buttons are pressed and noise is made.

Why the Tories want to get stop this sort of innovation and public service by the BBC to stop is beyond me

They don’t – Tony Hall was on the Today programme this morning saying the changes will be cash flat. Transferring responsibility for administering licences to the people who collect it should make it simpler to administrate (therefore cheaper), likewise for the transfer back to government of the broadband top slice, plus the BBC can solve the iplayer problem. All in all, pragmatic changes to correct anomalies that arose due to tinkering by recent governments.

“Tories Go to War on BBC” is hardly emollient stuff is it?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/11598450/Tories-go-to-war-with-the-BBC.html

We’ll see what a 25% cut in the BBC budget over the next 5 years achieves but this sort of project may well be seen as ideal for pruning.

The guy who runs the BBC says it is cash flat i.e. no reduction in budget that telegraph story is nearly two months old

Reading the list of suppliers and backers on the BBC blog entry it sounds like they’ve got all the right people involved for it to be a success.

Makes me smile that right at the top of the list there is ARM.

What proportion of year 7 kids live in a household that does not have a PC or tablet ? Genuine question, but my guess is very few.

Of course the BBC is laying off a load of people because they are losing money as people are watching online only now – and most of them appear to be on this forum!

That whole iplayer bit of not needing a license is screwed up – surely you pay a license so that you can see the content over-air, so why make it available for free via other means?

Maybe the license fee needs to be a ‘subscription’ fee that entitles you to watch over-air or on alternate media, but there should be some other form of fee for only watching on alternate media – else how are they going to keep going with no income?

What proportion of year 7 kids live in a household that does not have a PC or tablet ? Genuine question, but my guess is very few.

Proportion of schoolkids that don’t have some form of access, be that via friends / school / library, even fewer I’d guess.

That whole iplayer bit of not needing a license is screwed up – surely you pay a license so that you can see the content over-air, so why make it available for free via other means?

You pay a licence fee to watch or record TV as it is broadcast, the delivery mechanism is irrelevant. If you were to watch a live broadcast on iPlayer, you’d need a licence for it. The stuff that’s free is the programming made available at a later date.

Maybe the license fee needs to be a ‘subscription’ fee that entitles you to watch over-air or on alternate media, but there should be some other form of fee for only watching on alternate media – else how are they going to keep going with no income?

Which they will be allowed to do under the new package of measures that has been agreed.

Fancy having wires and bits soldered onto your iPad?

Back in the day(late 80s), my degree project was using a BBC micro with a self build A/D & D/A module accessed through the printer port circuitry where the computer ran a real time simulation of thermal loads such as furnaces and vacuum presses for testing of industrial temperature controllers.

Today there’s plenty of sensor and actuation kit you can run from a USB or Apple Lightning port for real world integration. For me the breakthrough comes not with the buttons, lights and buzzers in the classroom, but in making the switch from looking at the devices you carry everyday as being tools to consume other peoples content, but where you can write your own apps and widgets, and make that into a learning habit.

re the licence. WHen it was first created it was a licence for the use of the equipment necessary to receive or record live broadcast from the national broadcaster.

As we know, that income was hypothecated (the only tax in the country to be so hypothecated) to fund the BBC’s production of those broadcasts.

Even when commercial stations began, the licence was still to watch live broadcast of ANY UK broadcast, whether BBC or commercial. You cant detune BBC stations, watch Dave, and not use a licence.

It will be interesting how they implement the mooted licence changes. Since unless they make the watching of ANY online/timeslip service illegal without a licence, then they are changing the licence model to the specific consumption of BBC broadcasts for the first time (the change of medium is almost of less significance).

So if you watch live of timeslipped, 4OD, ITV Player, TVCatchup, 6 seconds Vine highlight etc etc, will you be caught under the new licence? How will they police the iPlayer? Will every licence owner have to log in with an ID? How many devices will be covered? Sky for e.g. limit Sky Now to 3 devices with 30 day change over, others (As far as I can tell Eurosport is one) dont.

it will be interesting to see if they can implement the changes without attempting to encompass the whole online video consumption market, or making BBC consumption online more time consuming/difficult than the competition.

Today there’s plenty of sensor and actuation kit you can run from a USB or Apple Lightning port for real world integration. For me the breakthrough comes not with the buttons, lights and buzzers in the classroom, but in making the switch from looking at the devices you carry everyday as being tools to consume other peoples content, but where you can write your own apps and widgets, and make that into a learning habit.

And then what do you do? Leave your tablet plugged in running you temperature/humidity/access control/wearable gizmo thing?

Wake up grandad, it’s called the Internet of things. We’re about to plunge into the trough of disillusionment 😉

The guy who runs the BBC says it is cash flat i.e. no reduction in budget

‘Cash flat’ my arse. They have been forced to swallow it in exchange for the licence fee rising with inflation. The BBC have been saddled with the costs, but have no agency i.e. they cannot decide to start charging the over-75s, so in effect the BBC is paying for a Tory election pledge with a *further* budget cut. Of course Hall is trying to put a brave face on it, but it’s a scandal.

Can adults get them? Can’t see anything in BBC link to say you can buy them…

I expect that if they do go up for public sale, it’ll be after they’ve produced sufficient quantities for the schools. A million units out of the gate is a big enough ask I’d have thought.

The stuff that’s free is the programming made available at a later date.

yes, precisely – why should it be free – if everyone watched online at a later date then program making would soon stop, or need to be advert funded.

Seems to tread into Arduino/Raspberry Pi territory – especially the Pi for learning in schools etc. But a bit of competition is always good.

Not that much. I don’t really get why they’re doing it when the Pi is so successful.
May as skip the toy and get stuck in with a proper langange (Python) on a device that has almost limitless possibilities and will stand the test of time.

Cool! My eldest will be receiving one so we might well have a play.

May as skip the toy and get stuck in with a proper langange (Python) on a device that has almost limitless possibilities and will stand the test of time.

The Python Software Foundation is listed as one of the product champions, so I guess the programming language may be pretty familiar.

Used the original BBC Micro to learn programming at poly. Ended up writing a programme to take data off the department’s XRF machine

Couldn’t do it now mind, although I still try to use the logic steps in my everyday work

But can you play Elite?

Why the Tories want to get stop this sort of innovation and public service by the BBC to stop is beyond me

Because they owe Murdoch, and killing off bits of the BBC is his payment.

It’s not really anything like a Pi though, and serves a different purpose. Not only that, but things have moved on since the Pi, at least partly driven by its existence, which opens the way for something like this. Each has their place and I think we should welcome this as adding rather than diluting the possibilities.

I’m sure I’m far from the only hobbyist who uses a RPi headless, hence requiring much the same environment as this. It’s also a bit disingenuous to suggest you don’t need add ons for a RPi – if you aren’t going to remote into it, then you really need a screen and keyboard.

I’m sure I’m far from the only hobbyist who uses a RPi headless, hence requiring much the same environment as this

Although this can only connect to the internet via bluetooth so it can’t be left to carry out its duties on its own.

I don’t see that as a huge difference, especially not given where it’s aimed at. A RPi can’t connect to the internet by itself either – it needs ethernet or wifi (and for wifi it needs a dongle) – it’s just that in your world those are ubiquitous. In the world of pre-teen kids, BT connections are just about as ubiquitous. Not that you need to connect to the internet to do things – my main RPi project can be controlled over wifi, but can also be left to work standalone.

Can you BT from a device to a router? Not seen that.
You may not need your device connected to the internet but it sure does make them a lot more interesting.
I have 4 pi’s reading temperatures/solar productivity and controlling heat and all are connected to internet.

Of course one interesting aspect is that you can always just connect a micro:bit to a RasPi (or Arduino, MSP430, etc).

[genuine question] What would that get you?

Same as any other Hat/Cape/Shield, some extra sensors and outputs in an nice packaged format, and probably with a suitable library to support them.