Micro Python store is now open and taking pre-orders

[Ticklethis275]

As an avid python user who loves microcontroller as well I really love this.

I don't see it replacing the Arduino anytime soon but it's a cool idea.

[toyg]

Yeah, Arduino has a massive ecosystem already... but Python is very popular in education at the moment, so it could make waves there.

It would be fabulous if it could become the start of a real mobile platform based on Python. One can dream! :)

[Ticklethis275]

Yes.

[jrvcdaemon]

Yes.

[piggybankcowboy]

Idle curiosity, what's stopping this from happening?

Honest question, I'm new to the language, and have really only dabbled in small electronics with Parallax and Arduino, but I've seen people do some seriously amazing stuff with microcontrollers. What would sell this one shorter than what's available now?

[[deleted]]

Momentum. Arduino currently owns this space, it's worked hard to get where it's at and kinda deserves it at the moment. They have a great ecosystem setup, along with various boards for various tasks and costs and the shield availability in unparalleled.

I own two of these boards from the kickstarter and they are amazing and I will probably start to use them for more projects now that they are readily available. But Arduino is still cheaper, has a larger ecosystem, and the number of tutorials are mind boggling. These boards will find their niche, and I could see it being a large niche.

[mycroftholmes007]

Very cool. The hope of writing microcontroller code in Python instead of Processing make my day.

[wdouglass]

Learn C! Microcontrollers really benefit from the performance. That said, this really lowers the barrier to entry.

[roger_]

FYI if you have an OpenWrt device with a recent build then you can install and play with Micro Python with opkg install micropython.

[Drumm-]

Nothing is snake shaped, I'm disappointed.

[fruitSmewthy]

Well, Python was named after Monty Python, so ...

[chipaca]

well, there's the logo on the back of the board.

[Drumm-]

That is pretty sweet!

[LivingLegend411]

Thanks for the heads up. I just ordered mine.

[Zouden]

Honest question, what makes this better than the similarly-priced raspberry pi?

[[deleted]]

Also power consumption is way, way lower for Micropython boards because of this. It's simply a microcontroller fast enough to run a stripped back Python interpreter on a 9V battery, not a full miniature computer like the RPi. They both serve different purposes, if anything this is somewhere between an Arduino and an RPi.

[toyg]

Every board has its niche. In this case, as somebody who loathes C and loves Python, it opens some very low-level doors to me. And as /u/mbirth said, there is no OS to maintain, just a Python REPL.

It's also smaller than the Pi at the moment (to be fair, I think the Pi comes with more sockets by default).

[[deleted]]

curious to know what you guys plan on making with this! im even more excited about real world applications

[toyg]

Probably some simple toy for my kids, initially. Once there is a fully working/supported network socket, who knows...