To Britons of a certain age, the BBC Micro was a legendary 8-bit computer perfect for learning to code (and to play with between lessons). The public broadcaster's Micro Bit will be its spiritual sequel.
The tiny 4cm device has an ARM CPU, bluetooth and a USB port, through which it can be powered.
Uniquely, it has a series of 25 LED lights to help young children get instant results and appreciate its simple programmability, said to be a key differentiator between the Micro:bit and more elaborate devices such as the Raspberry Pi.
It also has an accelerometer, a motion detector, a compass, and and an array of inputs for more sensors to be attached. The wee board is 18 times faster than the original BBC Micro, which recently celebrated its 33rd birthday—and about 600 times lighter. The BBC will reportedly give a million Micro:bits to kids in the UK.
