Raspberry Pi

A great little SBC (single board computer) has been launched. It has had a long an arduos gestation lasting several years, but this little SBC  is a magnificent achievement. It has been designed and developed in Cambridge by the Raspberry Pi foundation.

See Here
RS Components Here
Farnell Here

You can get one for £25. (that's right - twenty five quid)

 So what? You may say. What is so special about just "another" computer. Believe me, this little SBC is far from being just another pile of electronics. It promises to revolutionise both the teaching and implementation of electronics/computing in our schools, colleges and industry.

You will be seeing it in schools within a year and then in home brewed products shortly afterwards. Where better to start than with the educational market? But that is merely the tip of the ice burg. Believe me this is not just a load of hype. This thing will fly.

But great as this is there is one downside that needs debating.

The talented and creative folk who created this breakthrough wanted to build the initial boards in this country. Good for them. But they couldn't.

The main reason?

The brick wall to getting these things made here revolved around the price of components.

 If they were built and fully assembled in China then there would be no import Tax when bringing them into this country.

But if they were built here, then the components would have been subject to import tax on entry and so would have pushed up the price of the finished boards to a much higher and unsustainable price.

 A case of tax breaks for the Chinese at the expense of UK industry.

 What a shame.

 But even so, this is a great achievement full of promise for the future.

I haven't been able to get one yet - they are sold out (grrrrr)

Redcar Steelworks. An 11th Hour Rescue?

It looks like there is a consortium trying to take back the Redcar steel works from the hands of TATA.

That's the good news. (See Gazette article here )

But TATA will still keep the coke works. This means they maintain a strangle-hold over the steel works. A functional Redcar would be a direct competitor with other TATA owned steel production plants.

Even so, lets hope the consortium make it work. The hard working people of Redcar deserve a bit of good news for a change.

A modicum of support from the government would not go amiss either. If the government implemented some controls over the predatory flooding of the local market with foreign steel, Redcar could prosper.

But don't hold your breath.