The new Rasberry Pi is powerful and is something a lot of computer users will find useful.
I am excited to see double the performance of my first personal computer packed into such a small device, which can enable interesting projects in home automation, entertainment and even widespread machine learning.
READ MORE: The DIY computer taking on the world
The public mostly use computers to either browse the internet or perform relatively lightweight functions such as word processing or using spreadsheets. All of this can be done with the new Raspberry Pi.
The price is also very attractive in terms of the specifications on offer, but it is not suitable for everything.
If you are looking to play computer games with intensive visual graphics then you are still better off with a personal computers, which can be customised to provide superior performance.
I have seen lots of students at Edinburgh who want to try these devices. It would be significant if the wider public develop a greater understanding of the way computers work, but we tend to see the younger generation taking this on rather than the older generation.
Valentin Radu is a research associate at Edinburgh University
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