Question: andy do you run codes for computer like gaming and what do you think of the mother board?

Andrew Hearn answered on 16 Mar 2012:

Hello, yeah, you’ve got the right idea, I write and run loads different kinds of stuff on computers. Sometimes it is something completely hidden like getting low-level data to other boards (looks like scaled-down version of motherboards but specially designed to fit in a machine), and sometimes it is something very visible like changing the buttons, footages, pictures, and other info on touch screens and big displays.

I also create things to go into virtual environments, a bit like virtual reality so we can see and control things to test our machines with – we usually get excited about this as it is almost like playing games. (It is hard to keep our minds on the job when we’re at a console set up like a pilot’s cockpit, flying a plane complete with control levers and foot pedals to test our software!)

Motherboards are fantastic. They let anyone build their own computers at home (I’ve built them and my favourite is still going strong 5 years on, and it still is better than the computers we find in the shops!) – I got an Abit IN9 32X-MAX in my fave computer.

Now I’m getting into the Raspberry Pi SBCs – they can run home movie theatres, and all this power from something small as a credit card, and cheap, was unthinkable five or six years ago! I really hope all schools in this country will be able to get these for their ICT and computer science lessons.