Digital Link Staffer Gives us the Juice on Raspberry Pi

Digital Link has been talking about Pi quite a bit lately.

No, no. Not pie. Pi.

But, it’s just as sweet.

The Raspberry Pi is an ingenious invention that’s taking the UK by storm. Our resident expert Jason Turner has spent a lot of time dabbling with the Raspberry Pi, and he encourages people to try one out today. Or you can enter the giveaway through our Digital Link Facebook page and win one. (Hint, hint… go enter now.)

Maybe you’re a Raspberry Pi aficionado like Jason. Maybe you are like me and are wondering “What is Raspberry Pi?”  When I asked Jason to describe the Raspberry Pi, he offered a very helpful explanation.

“The Raspberry Pi is the world’s most widely recognized Single Board Computer (often referred to as an SBC). It is roughly the size of a credit card and makes use of various other micro technologies such as a MicroSD card as the hard disk drive and a Micro-USB cable as the power supply. I have even gone as far as to mount a 3.5-inch LCD screen to the top of my Pi, along with a rechargeable battery, to make it 100 per cent portable.”

Jason Turner

One of the amazing things about the Raspberry Pi is that it can be programmed and made into just about anything. People of all ages from all over the world are making incredible things with the Raspberry Pi. The video below offers some excellent ideas to help inspire your next great invention!

As for Jason, he has done many creative things with the Raspberry Pi. When he’s not busy designing amazing websites for our clients, you will likely find him creating his next Raspberry Pi masterpiece.

“I have used my Raspberry Pi for a few different projects. I created a Kodi-based media centre for my living room TV, and a simple Network Attached Storage (NAS) server for my home network and computers. For a while, I even had a fully functional universal retro console that played games from over 100 different retro consoles (i.e., Nintendo, Atari, Sega and PlayStation, to name a few).”

Jason Turner

Raspberry Pi encourages computer programming and coding in people of all ages. School-aged children in the UK are given a Raspberry Pi, and teachers and students often work together to build and create. The Raspberry Pi is fantastic for any grade level and has something for everyone—from the most advanced programmer to those who are only just starting. As a company who loves tech, we would love to see Raspberry Pi in schools around Canada. Jason agrees that the Raspberry Pi encourages a quest for knowledge and allows people to test the boundaries of technology.

“The thing that attracted me most about the Raspberry Pi was definitely the portability factor. It is so small it could fit in a pocket (maybe even more so than some of today’s slate smartphones. Yet, it can easily be more capable than those types of devices as it is an unlocked, open book so to speak. It can run various Linux distributions that I find incredibly useful, and anyone who knows Linux knows that there isn’t much you can’t accomplish.

Another thing that I really like about the Raspberry Pi, in comparison to the various other Single Board Computers on the market today is the community that backs it. There is nothing that you can’t find the answer to about the Pi with a simple Google search. It is awesome.”

We think that the Raspberry Pi has definitely hit a sweet spot in the world of technology. It is inspiring people across all walks of life, from the young to the young at heart, to develop important skills such as computer programming, coding and creativity. At the same time, these same people are part of a larger support community, encouraging one another and growing momentum. Combine all of these skills with the Raspberry Pi, and you have a winning recipe!