If it looks cool, that's only because it is. It is also GNU/Linux based and almost the definition of hackable.
Fortunately for me, I may be able to get to play with one eventually. They have a monthly contest where they give away three of them to three different schools, classes, organizations, etc. on the K-12 level, and I happen to be the founder and club manager of the Yellow Springs Computer Club, which is mostly made up of high school students and is based out of the local high school. If the club wants to try for one, we may just get lucky.
It is cool in a kind of packaged way... You end up paying the markup for it though. Look at Parallax (http://www.parallax.com/) for a slightly more geeky and probably just as friendly setup.
Cool! Thanks for pointing that out. I doubt their stuff is quite as friendly, though. After all, the Bug runs GNU/Linux and has Java APIs for everything, if I remember correctly. Also, I think there is an essential difference in objectives and philosophy. Bug labs seems to be trying for a sleek, integrated package of hardware and lower level code so that people can just focus on the software side once they have an idea, where as Parallax appears to be ideal for those who find putting it together and getting it to work to be a major part of the fun. I'm not sure a direct comparison is really possible. However, both are quite cool in different ways.
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Fortunately for me, I may be able to get to play with one eventually. They have a monthly contest where they give away three of them to three different schools, classes, organizations, etc. on the K-12 level, and I happen to be the founder and club manager of the Yellow Springs Computer Club, which is mostly made up of high school students and is based out of the local high school. If the club wants to try for one, we may just get lucky.
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It figures that PAN hardware pioneers would be fans of Stephenson...
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You end up paying the markup for it though.
Look at Parallax (http://www.parallax.com/)
for a slightly more geeky and probably just as friendly setup.
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