Definitely one of the better projects that I've seen on Kickstarter lately.
The dirt-cheap computer is C.H.I.P., a 2.5-inch motherboard that costs about the same as two venti caffé mochas at Starbucks.
Next Thing Co., the Oakland company behind the project, kept the design dead simple. There's no case or unnecessary parts.
You need to hook it up to a monitor, keyboard / mouse, power source actual computing, but that goes for any desktop computer. I actually like the fact that it is flexible, easy to stack and can be fit anywhere. It also has built in WiFi + Bluetooth.
C.H.I.P. IS A COMPUTER
Another option is to slip it inside PocketChip, a mobile device that resembles a stripped down Blackberry, which is available (for $40) as part of the Kickstarter for people who contribute $49 or more.
USING PocketC.H.I.P. WITH C.H.I.P.
C.H.I.P. IS POWERFUL
Looks like Raspberry Pi ($35) has a serious rival in the microcomputer stakes.
What do you monkeys think about it?
Is it a revolutionary open source gadget that has a potential to shake up the world or is just the chip not enough without keyboard and monitor? How big can be the impact of this in developing countries?
Do you think that people in developed countries would simply go with HP Stream 7 tablet for under $70 refurbished with double the RAM, eight times the storage, Windows 8.1, which ships with a power supply and has no need for a monitor, keyboard, etc?
Project page:
kickstarter.com/chip
Video: (mods please embed)
https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.net/projects/1805765/video-534975-h26…
Much like the raspberry pi. Meant to promote computer science in schools and increase access in the developing nations.
If you can get me a keyboard, mouse and monitor for $9, then we're talking.
I remember 16mb of ram and a 500mb hard drive back in day on my first computer. Countless hours wasted playing minesweeper.
Amazing to people my age. Mind = blown
Amazing to people my age too. The flexibility is really great - I wonder if one can run it headless from another internet connected computer.
I believe this is a great project. However, aside from those individuals who will already tinker, we need parents to get their children involved with projects like these. By having children growing up tinkering with projects like this we could show them what engineering and computers are really about, not just social media.
Great idea but we need young people (under 15) to tinker with it to reap the real benefits.
Exactly what I was thinking. Hope it reaches schools in developing countries.
I am waiting on mine to arrive. Apparently it has multiple apps programmed into it already, with one of them teaching you the basics of programming. Should be fun to mess with.
Amazing. It will be interesting to see if this will have the same impact greater access to telecommunications has had in developing countries. I bought my Raspberry Pi 2 a few weeks ago and its been a bit underwhelming. Still trying to figure out how to get the best use out of it as the Pi 2 has its limitations.
I don't think this has any (non-hobbyist) applications in personal use, everyone should own a laptop regardless, and it doesn't have enough computing power to run modern applications. People are just going to buy it, hook it up to their monitor/keyboard, say "oh its cool" and leave it to rot in the closet after a few hours.
Still I could see its potential if incorporated with other products. You could probably drop the price of a lot of 'smart appliances', things like bluetooth enabled thermostats.
As for the issue about computing in third world countries, why not just use a cheap smartphone instead?
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