Geek : First new BBC Micro in 20 years

The BBC launched the first BBC Micro personal computer in December of 1981. 34 years later, they’re launching an all-new Micro, but this one’s decidedly different.

It’s called the Micro Bit, and it’s a development board that’s small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Or a schoolchild’s hand, which is where the BBC wants to put them. They’re preparing a million of the boards, which will be given out to all UK students entering secondary school this fall.

There’s a key difference to how the BBC is positioning the Micro Bit compared to the original Micro. The first time the BBC launched a Micro, Sir Clive Sinclair was understandably upset about a government-funded competitor to the ZX Spectrum. This time they’re being careful not to step on anyone’s toes. The Micro Bit is meant to be a complimentary device, and it’s made to work seamlessly with other dev boards like the Raspberry Pi, Arduino boards, and Intel’s Galileo.

The BBC is actually working with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, and they’ve got a bunch of other major tech industry players involved, too: ARM, Microsoft, Google, Samsung, and BT to name a few. .The Micro Bit is part of a massive push by the BBC to help the UK shore up their digital skills gap. It’s always been a part of the BBC’s mission, and recently they’ve been working on new ways to help. You might remember the nifty little Doctor Who game that teaches kids programming logic by issuing commands to a Dalek.

Kids will be able to create programs for the Micro Bit using C++, Python, and TouchDevelop when they reach schools this September. The hope is that the Micro Bit will help inspire Britain’s youngsters… and maybe kickstart the career of the next Sir Clive Sinclair.