Next consumer computing phase ?

Every now and then something comes along that changes people's attitudes towards technology, for me there was VHS/Betamax video recorder, the Commodore VIC20, the BBC Micro, the CD player, to name a few.

For me, the main impacts have always been with the introduction of new computing technologies, like the first Toshiba dual floppy DOS based laptop I had access to at work, closely followed by my own 286 Turbo PC I built at home.

The last key step in computers, for me, was the Netbook, inspired by the goal to supply cheap computing to the third world it soon became a whole new platform that was so much more portable.

Of course there is tablet computing but as yet I've not found the need to spend the money to go there!

Now there is a branch of computing technology to embrace and it looks like it will be very affordable, the Raspberry Pi.

Being developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a UK registered charity, they hope it will become an ultracheap computer platform to be used to teach childeren about computing.  It may even be cheap enough for them to be given to school children, around £15.

The ultra small device features an HDMI port at one end and a USB port on the other.

There is a Youtube video here.