The low-cost Raspberry Pi micro-computer was created to give kids an application development platform that could be hacked with abandon — thus saving Mom and Dad the heartache of a thoroughly borked home PC. The Pi’s creators hope that their modest development machine will rekindle the DIY spirit that was prevalent among nerds in the 1980s.
Super-modder Ben Heck took that nostalgia-fuelled idea, and went one step further by creating a Raspberry Pi case that resembles an iconic computer from the War Games era. Built to resemble the BBC Micro computer, the case has a full keyboard, I/O ports and even something that the Raspberry Pi lacks — a power switch.
Marketed as an educational tool, the BBC Micro computer was built by Acorn in the early 1980s. It included a cartridge slot that could be used to conduct educational experiments (as seen in the photo above). Heck added a cartridge slot to the Raspberry Pi mod so experimenter boards could be inserted into the tiny computer.
And if that wasn’t old-school enough, Heck built his keyboard case out of wood and added hinges so that the keyboard could be flipped up like a school desk — perfect for storing cartridges, SD cards, and multi-tools for the young modder in training. Check out the video below for a taste of the mod.
