What if everyone in the US, or even the world, could get online? Imagine the marketing possibilities. Well, that’s no longer a pipe dream.
We’ve seen many “cheap” computers come and go but the Raspberry Pi has them all beat. Coming in at $35, this little sucker has everything you need to run basic programs and even get online. And at such a low price, families across the US that can’t afford a computer now can and people in less developed countries that could never imagine having a computer can now imagine it.
The Raspberry Pi is powered by a standard phone charger and has a 700Mhz ARM processor, 256MB RAM, HDMI, RCA outputs, USB and Ethernet. You’ll spend more in cables and monitors than you will on the computer itself. It runs on Linux and is powerful enough to run a few programs and a web browser.
No longer will school districts have to shell out thousands for classroom PCs. No longer will kids without computers at home be at learning disadvantage. No longer will computerless families not have access to the information and power of the internet. No longer will online retailers be stuck to people that have $700 for a laptop. I could go on but you get the point.
Additional thoughts:
• Will we now have a whole new marketing segment of “poverty” online shoppers? What will they buy? Where will they buy it? Will it be Amazon? Craigslist? Something new?
• How long until someone with major funds starts a program to get one of these in the hands of every human being in the country let alone Africa, Asia, the world?
• Now everyone can be on Facebook. What does that mean?
• How many world-changing voices, thoughts, ideas, etc. will be unleashed that would have otherwise remained silenced by simple lack of internet access?
• Is the internet now truly democratized?
• How will people get internet access? Pay-go USB 3G? Something else?
• How will the Cloud interact with the Raspberry Pi? Do we need to have programs on board or can we run them remotely? Do we need programs at all with Google Docs, etc.?
This incredibly small thing is big. Really big.
Video at Huffington Post.
