Raspberry PI

[HenryCase]

I don't see the point of this thing. I'd bet money most of these will just wind up collecting dust after getting a weeks worth of being messed around with. Kids are not hurting for computers (in developed countries anyway). To the average kid, this thing will be about as interesting as a Chia Pet once the novelty wears off.

Depends on your market. In terms of a cheap PC for education, this gives kids something they can experiment with programming on, and that can become part of the school curriculum (therefore it won't get dusty as they'll be doing homework with it).

As for the general population, if you're not interesting in building something with it, then the most obvious use is as a cheap HTPC. If you've not played with one before, then perhaps you'll change your mind when you do. Recommend checking out XBMC. XBMC can do more than I could reasonably hope to succintly summarise, but to get a feel for what it feels like to use a highly polished media centre, try watching this (this is just one skin for XBMC, there are others):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLzdLOO3sYI

[HenryCase]

You are bitching about the Raspberry Pi...

Actually, Iggy was referring to the Efika MX (he quoted Dammy in his post).

[HenryCase]

Kids will learn more about logic in a math class than they'll ever get in a few stupid programming tricks lessons in computer lab.

You're wrong. What most kids learn from maths classes is how to repetitively apply rules about arithmetic manipulation, so that it's more about having a good memory than about thinking creatively. Programming seems much better placed to teach you how to think for yourself to solve problems. Besides, programming is basically 'applied mathematics' in many ways, especially when you get past the initial stages. Mathematics is an important subject, but to state computer programming offers little to the kids that learn it conveys a hefty level of ignorance.

@all that are dissing the Raspberry Pi
How do you propose giving each schoolkid their own cheap computer they can transport between school and home?

[HenryCase]

That's bs. You obviously have no idea what's going on k-12 math classes. (that covers a *lot* of territory)

Okay, go on then, enlighten me, what are students expected to learn in K-12 mathematics classes?

Given that programming was dumped on little kids in the 80's and early 90's and didn't yield useful results, I think it's ignorant to think it would a second time around. Programming classes make sense for high school electives, but anything more is just a waste of time. That's why elementary and middle schools don't really bother with it anymore.

Back then, computer use was not as pervasive a part of our culture as it is today, computer skills were vaguely understood to be important, but the reasons why were poorly understood.

Nowadays, computing is everywhere, many more people interact with computers on a daily basis, and there's a stronger understanding that programming skills are useful in a wide range of jobs.

To summarise; whilst before there were good intentions without much insight on how best to capitalise on these intentions, nowadays we have good intentions plus a drive to improve computer literacy beyond the state it's at today. That's why it's more likely to work this time.