Indistinguishable from magic

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C Clarke

I don't suppose many people could truly say that they understand how a computer works. My computing career started in 1974 with an elderly Elliott 503 that filled half a room. If I didn't understand it, I did at least appreciate that a large and complex job needed a large and complex machine.

This computer is a bit different. It is the size of a credit card, and almost all its functions are implemented in the black square at the centre which is the size of a fingernail. The other components on the board are mainly just connectors.

It's a Raspberry Pi, produced by an educational charity and costing just £30. Adding a power supply, keyboard, memory card etc. bring the total cost up to around £60. I plan to use it to free up a laptop driving a shop window display at a Community Interest Company I help.

(The first batch were manufactured in China, but this example is one of the first to be made in the UK.)

Technology like this has crept up on us, but if you look back 40 years, the change is staggering.