back to article BBC's micro:bit retail shipments near

The long-awaited BBC micro:bit computer is now available for pre-order to retail and reseller customers, with single-unit orders starting at £12.50. Earlier this year, the beeb began shipping the little single-board computer to school-children. Farnell element14 is now taking pre-orders at resale scale, a minimum order …

  1. Suricou Raven

    It's rubbish

    Minimal libraries available as of yet. Just enough functionality to not be useful without accessories. They'd have done better just making arduinos with extra LEDs and buttons.

    1. Tom Chiverton 1

      Re: It's rubbish

      Not sure Arduino has the ecosystem, like graphical programing, that Bit has

    2. Linker3000

      Re: It's rubbish

      The ecosystem for the micro:bit is getting there - notably the micropython team are making progress on an almost daily basis. I predict some people working hard during the impending Summer hols.

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

        Re: It's rubbish

        The ecosystem for the micro:bit is getting there

        True but the hardware could do with a bit more RAM, say 32 kB, and maybe a WiFi radio.

        1. Linker3000

          Re: It's rubbish

          I understand there was some talk about speccing the micro:bit with a larger RAM, but this would have meant moving to the next model of Nordic SoCs and the cost was considered too high.

          The board is intended for basic coding and for that it's fine - if you require more RAM, then the micro:bit is probably not the right fit for your project.

        2. John Sturdy
          Thumb Up

          There's hope for us yet!

          I'm glad it's not designed to encourage people to write bloatware from the start.

          1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

            Re: There's hope for us yet!

            Keep it small, keep it tight!

            32kb? Luxury. Kids these days are spoiled rotten enough as it is. When I were a lad, I remember getting my 16K ram pack for my ZX-81 and wondering what I'd do with all that memory! Teaching kids to write small, efficient code is far more useful given that should translate to cheaper/smaller iGizmos

            1. DrXym

              Re: There's hope for us yet!

              "32kb? Luxury. Kids these days are spoiled rotten enough as it is. When I were a lad, I remember getting my 16K ram pack for my ZX-81 and wondering what I'd do with all that memory! Teaching kids to write small, efficient code is far more useful given that should translate to cheaper/smaller iGizmos"

              I reckon kids should still have to type out pages of hex printed on silvery bogroll like I did as a kid. With the added thrill that the characters for B, 8 and 0 look indistinguishable and the program will probably crash as soon as it runs.

              1. Linker3000

                Re: There's hope for us yet!

                I'll just leave this here:

                https://i.imgur.com/eTgF48e.jpg

                "The Acorn System 1 is a grandparent of the BBC micro:bit; it was designed by Sophie Wilson and Steve Furber, who went on to help develop the BBC Microcomputer.

                Acorn System 1:

                Launched: 1979

                Processor: 8-bit 6502, 1MHz

                Approx MIPS: 0.5

                RAM: 1.125kB

                ROM: 512 bytes

                BBC micro:bit:

                Launched: 2016

                Processor: 32-bit ARM Cortex M0, 16MHz

                Approx MIPS: 13

                RAM: 16kB

                Flash: 256kB "

                1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

                  Re: There's hope for us yet!

                  Something I envied the rich kids with the Acorn boxes for was the I/O potential. Bridging the analog/digital divide and making a computer control real-world stuff is great fun. Who knows, maybe a micro:bit kid will be the next to flog a temperature sensor to Google for large slabs of cash.

    3. werdsmith Silver badge

      Re: It's rubbish

      It's OK for what it is, a sort of intro device. Much like getting kids playing the recorder to see who has the aptitude and wants to run with it. Some kids will be apathetic about them, others will see a spark and it will lead them off into more advanced stuff.

      But apathy is not helping, not from the kids but from the schools. Not all kids will be getting these, because if the teachers aren't interested then their school won't register for them. The teachers have enough work with the existing curriculum without trying to fit these in somewhere, it will need enthusiastic volunteer teachers and after-school coding clubs. For example the school where my kids go, the teachers have barely even heard about these and are not interested so there will be no Micro-Bits for those year 7s, they will have to stick with scratch and python on PCs, and Macs for art and music. I suspect many schools are the same.

      So if you see headlines saying "every year 7 child is getting a BBC Micro-Bit computer" then read it as "bullshit".

      1. Linker3000

        Re: It's rubbish

        Agreed, the ultimate launch date was not good and has meant the micro:bits being delivered so close to the end of the school year that there was little point in bringing them into the curriculum.

        I am a STEM ambassador and we have a growing network of members who are tooled up with micro:bits and able to support schools who wish to use the board in conjunction with curriculum activities. You should encourage your school to reach out to the STEM organisation to see who could help either directly or remotely.

        http://www.stemnet.org.uk/

      2. andy gibson

        Re: It's rubbish

        I think that's where IT Technicians or other techy support staff in school need to pick up the ball. Many IT clubs are run by these staff.

  2. wolfetone Silver badge

    I wonder how much money the BBC have actually saved by commissioning this thing against purchasing Raspberry Pi's or Arduinos and providing course material for that?

    But hey, when you're more or less guaranteed a stream of income for the next 10 years you can pretty much do whatever the hell you like.

    1. Tom 7

      @wolfetone

      I'm not sure the BBC were wrong in commissioning this - just very unlucky not to know the Pi Zero was coming out.

      I'd guess from the pricing of this, compared with what I've seen of the Pi, that even if they only sell a couple of hundred thousand they will be well into somewhere 'profitable'.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: @wolfetone

        Question - who can find a $5 ZERO - its a phantom gimmick + you need all the kit to make it do anything. My son's BBC Micro:bit is ready to go out of the box with the power pack, the app and his mobile phone! brilliant

    2. werdsmith Silver badge

      It cost the BBC virtually nothing, having engaged some big industry support, and now they are going to be on general sale then I expect it might even turn a profit.

  3. 27escape

    Now we have Pi Zero

    for £4 is this device still relevant, sure it has a bit of bluetooth and some LEDs and is lower power, but is that enough to convince schoolkids that they should become software developers or electronic design types?

    1. Linker3000

      Re: Now we have Pi Zero

      The Zero has no LED matrix display, no bluetooth, no accelerometer, no built-in switches and no magnetometer so it's hardly ready 'out of the box' to do anything, plus prepping one for use can be a bit of hassle. The micro:bit can almost hit the ground running; I have both and the micro:bit is the best fit for its intended purpose.The Zero could be step 2 on a coding journey unless one moves to the Arduino ecosystem or somethig like the ST Nucleo boards.

      1. NigelD

        Re: Now we have Pi Zero

        So another words the Zero is far more like the original BBC micro they claim to be emulating.

        1. Linker3000

          Re: Now we have Pi Zero

          Emulating?

          I've seen 'successor' mentioned in official circles. not 'emulator', although there have been comments about hoping the micro:bit emulates the success of the BBC Micro, which is a completely different context.

          1. NigelD

            Re: Now we have Pi Zero

            Wow, I'm talking to Dr Sheldon Cooper... oops ;)

            1. Linker3000

              Re: Now we have Pi Zero

              > Wow, I'm talking to Dr Sheldon Cooper... oops ;)

              Nah, you're being corrected by someone working close to the project!

              /I'm impartial to trains and have no fear of birds.

          2. werdsmith Silver badge

            Re: Now we have Pi Zero

            I feel there is a world of difference between original BBC Model B which was the equivalent of a months salary in 1982, and a £12.50 programmable LED array in 2016.

    2. DrXym

      Re: Now we have Pi Zero

      If you consider the amount of effort required for a kid to run a Pi Zero and program it vs the micro bit you might appreciate why the latter exists.

      A Pi would require at least a USB charger, keyboard, display, HDMI cable, mouse, and micro SD card. And the SD card needs to be flashed with something and takes several minutes to boot up.

      The only thing you need to program a micro bit is a USB charger and a phone or tablet with bluetooth. You can plug it into a PC if you want but a tablet or phone will do. In fact you don't even need actual hardware since there is an emulator that works with the tools.

      And it's easier for the teacher to mark the kid's work because they can either upload and run them from the emulator, or the kid can bring the device in and simply plug it in to demonstrate it. I expect in time there will even be things like robots, weather stations etc. when you just plug the bit into a slot and it talks over GPIO.

      There is no doubt in my mind which is easier for course work in schools. I don't see it as being bad news for the Pi because the micro bit has obvious limitations. It is meant for learning purposes. Those kids who started with the micro bit will graduate onto a Pi in time.

      1. VinceH

        Re: Now we have Pi Zero

        "And the SD card needs to be flashed with something and takes several minutes to boot up."

        That boot time depends on what you put on that card. My Pi probably boots up in around 15 seconds or so.

        1. Linker3000

          Re: Now we have Pi Zero

          > My Pi probably boots up in around 15 seconds or so.

          So, about 14 seconds more that a micro:bit ;-)

          1. Linker3000

            Re: Now we have Pi Zero

            s/that/than/

            /Sheldon Cooper would not have been so sloppy.

        2. DrXym

          Re: Now we have Pi Zero

          "That boot time depends on what you put on that card. My Pi probably boots up in around 15 seconds or so."

          Great. But I was referring to something analogous to the programming the bit, i.e. to boot the Pi up to a desktop and Scratch or similar.

          The bit is just on and its ready. The Pi isn't.

    3. Andrew 1234

      Re: Now we have Pi Zero

      It's a very different animal to a Pi.

      This is a bare metal embedded system rather than a stripped down linux computer.

      Sure if you use graphical programming systems then they are much the same but if you program it in c (the libraries for that have been out for 6 months) then the interrupt response time is orders of magnitude faster than the Pi could dream of.

      Plus you have all the fun of being able to poke individual CPU registers and play with every possible setting. Try doing that under Linux.

      Most students won't ever get past running the pre-written stuff they are spoon fed. But just like the BBC micro in it's day there is a whole world more for those who want to dig.

      Back in my school days I was writing programs in 6502 assembler on the BBC. Oh the fun I could have had with half a dozen of these back then.

  4. Tom 7

    Before getting one of these

    I'd check if you can drive it from a phone. If not you will need a computer to program it. If you haven't got one get a Pi. Sorted.

    1. Linker3000

      Re: Before getting one of these

      I've upvoted this one, purely because it's a pain to head down the phone/tablet route only to find that support for your particular model...they're 'working on it'.

      /Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet.

    2. werdsmith Silver badge

      Re: Before getting one of these

      There's a Micro:Bit app in the iOS App Store.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I don't get it

    To me this feels very much like a "not invented here" moment from the Beeb. If their aim was to teach kids about technology they could have bulk ordered one of the machines from either Arduino or Pi, I don't see what this new machine brings to the party. In fact if anything it brings less to the party because it doesn't currently have a community around it or libraries to support it.

    1. werdsmith Silver badge

      Re: I don't get it

      No community, but considerable weight behind it:

      ARM, Barclays, element14, Freescale, Lancaster University, Microsoft, Nordic Semiconductor, Samsung, ScienceScope, Wellcome Trust etc have assisted in development and funding.

      It's also being "championed" by:

      Bluetooth Special Interest Group, Bright Future, Cannybots, CISCO, Code Club, Code Kingdoms, CoderDojo, Creative Digital Solutions, CultureTECH, MyMiniFactory, Institution of Engineering and Technology, Kitronik, London Connected Learning Centre, Python Software Foundation, STEMNET, TeenTech, and Tinder Foundation.

      1. Linker3000

        Re: I don't get it

        Help make the community happen - there's an Area 51 initiative on Stack Exchange to create a micro:bit Q&A site - please head over and upvote some of the questions that have not made it to 10 yet.

        http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/96237/microbit

        ** Please don't upvote any question that already has 10 upvotes; they have already passed the needed score so it will be a wasted vote. **

        Also check out this sub on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Micro_Bit/

        (There's a couple of other micro:bit subs on Reddit, but that one is the most active)

  6. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Better late than never

    Considering the big-name entities involved, it has been a bit of a fiasco, especially in missing the original release date. That meant the associated Make It Digital tie-in never happened and the deliveries are so late in the school year that the freebies will have mostly been wasted. It would probably have been better to hold off to next school year.

    None the less I wish it well, hope it does encourage some students to get excited about coding, programming, hardware and electronics.

    1. Linker3000

      Re: Better late than never

      > It would probably have been better to hold off to next school year.

      Totally agree.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well done BBC making this available to buy

    My 11 year old got his in April and it has caused non stop arguments between brothers and sisters (10, 13 and 16!)

    I just pre ordered 3 BBC Micro:bit's from Tech Will Save Us and can't wait for them to be delivered.

    The website that the BBC have created to support the Micro:bit is amazing for teachers (me) and my kids to use. Lots of videos, projects, ideas and I see the kids are starting to build there own community off the back of this....and fighting over colours!

    Can only be a good thing for the UK.

    P.S We got 2 Pi ZEROs free on the front of a magazine earlier this year - they have not been touched - too complicated and need a lot of gear to get ZERO to do anything. No support for entry level code education

    1. Strangelove

      Re: Well done BBC making this available to buy

      Nice to see them, and the one my youngster brought home was great fun, making a wearable "happy birthday" scrolling badge within about 10 minutes, though the fun of adding the "happy birthday" tune was was rather marred by the fact we managed to blow it up within an hour, as far as I can tell by having it running on battery and plugged in to USB host at the same time - now the KL26 USB interface chip just gets painfully hot and the PC does not recognise it.

      More generally I think the coding side is pretty slick, and impressive, - and I do quite a lot of embedded coding for work ,and I know how hard it is to explain to non-techie types- this is a good introduction, so long as you don't mind it being all on-line.

      However, the support for users is thin.

      Key hardware detail is missing, what is the acceptable range of battery voltages, or speaker resistances one can connect to it, or the maximum load one can put on the IO pins - simple stuff, that might have saved us from disappointment.. I'm sure there is no need to keep the circuit and the whereabouts of the chip datasets secret either.

      M.

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