We've started to ship Raspberry Pis and some people have emailed me with a brief note to say that it has arrived. There is nothing like coming home to find a package waiting for you. Furthermore, there is nothing like having a credit card sized open source computer inside that package.
More than once, a new piece of equipment has come home with me, only to sit inside the box for a few weeks, as I am trying to acclimate it to my house. Its not necessarily a bad thing. When I buy these things, its because I want to see what they can do, not because I need them to do something immediately. It is my goal to help you move from collection to innovation pretty quickly.
Looking in the box, you have the Raspberry Pi model B, an SD cards with NOOBS, and a power supply. In a nutshell, that is everything you will need to turn it on and getting running for the first time. That, in and of itself can be pretty satisfying. However, if you want to interact it, you will probably want to make sure that you have a few other things on hand as well. I would recommend the following:
- An HDMI cable and something you can plug it in to (I've used the family television, or a spare monitor).
- If your monitor doesn't have an HDMI input you will want to look for an adapter. I have had luck with HDMI - DVI adapters.
- A USB keyboard and mouse.
These basically complete the look, and you'll have your Raspberry Pi up and operating like a computer. You will boot your operating system for the first time (which will take a few minutes) and you'll be off to the races. The next step and the next topic will be, what to do with it.