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Just saw a video related to it, you can make your custom Game Boy using it :P

I've a couple, one handles dns & dhcp magic for my network as well and is attached to my printer/scanner to allow network access to that. Has a LAMP installation too, but rarely used as I tend to use a virtual machine for most development.

The other is fairly neglected at the moment, it previously controlled the mood lightning for my living room (using a hijacked AMBX unit) but the lights were underpowered and I never got around to replacing them with some proper kit. My plans for it now are to get a decent breadboard + breakout board and use a couple of switches to make a basic Internet radio. I'll then gut a vintage vacuum tube radio (think "wireless") and house the PI in that. Bonus points if I can use the existing speakers, but I'll likely have to buy some snazzy small powerful seperate speakers and use those.

As for programming, the RaspberryPi project is very Python friendly (most Pi aimed distros, such as Raspian, come loaded with example scripts + tutorials) but you're not limited. Python is a very easy language to get into. Of course, if you're feeling more adventurous, you could always make your own OS.

I have a couple of them. They are fun toys. They are very easy to set up. I use one as a media center and the other one will be a car computer. I think the kit ^^ is a bit overpriced if you ask me. Personally I dont use the case because that only heats the pi up. You wont need the heatsinks unless you are going to overclock it. If you only want it for basic programming you won't need the rest (except for the power cable and sd card). Most programming and scripting languages are available and are easy to set up. Most articles and books I have seen use python or c++.
If you want to use the input output to control external electronics. You might also want to look into the arduino.
If I were you I would first check out a book that seems interesting to you and check what you all need. If it's for electronics you do need all the electronic parts in the ^^ kit but that won't get you very far.

Best case for pi? Lego's.

well... i would prefer this and this (:

time to get fat :D

I got one from one of the first batches, great device to mess around with but it got pretty fast old for me. Plus I didn't really have a purpose for it on the long term, most people end up using it as a HTPC/NAS but as I already owned those from a lot higher quality, so I sold it with a bit of profit. But I'd say it's definitely worth the 40-50€ it costs, just to mess around with.

If you are looking to get into electronics, programming chips, setting up circuits I can not recommend the raspberri Pi, but an Ardiono Board (The Uno is quite nice for starts). Those are available in starting packs with various accessories and often tutorials on small projects.

If you want to use it more like a small portable linux computer then the Pi is quite nice! (I own both)

got 2 of them, currently in use to make ordinary tv's to smart tvs :)

also did use one for a while as a xmpp server

Love mine. Programming and little hobby projects are crazy easy with these little suckers.

I own a Raspberry Pi, a CubiBoard, an Odroid-U3 and a few other little bits.

The Raspberry Pi is crap, don't bother. For a small amount more you can get the Odroid-U3 which is exponentially more powerful but still has all the breakout capabilities and other more usable interfaces.

I have two, one for my skyjack drone and one for setting up quad VPNs(pc/notebook-pi-vm on pc/notebook-vm on pi)

I have one with xbmc in my living room, don't know much about programming so I just use it to watch series and films

I have one raspberry pi but the performance is not much good for my needs, for retropie and for xmbc kinda helps overclock it and that increase the risk of overheat and also can currupt the sd card data...
But if you wanna make small projects that doesn't require much power it's cool... I guess the next reaspberry pi (RPi C) will work with modules which you can replace or add new pieces of hardware towards your needs but is not released yet (http://www.raspberrypi.org/raspberry-pi-compute-module-new-product/)

Also there is in market more powerful compatible products like HummingBoard or banana pi, you can check the list over here:

http://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/gadgets/8-alternatives-raspberry-pi/

I have one on my desk. I haven't used it for about 7 hours... I think I will buy 2 or 3 more (B+ model)

It is great media center, also I use it to prototype games on Rasberry Pi. (the last prototype was working just fine, so now I switched to more advanced tools to build it properly) It works great. I created a dual-boot SD card for it (XMBC and Rasbian) And soon I am planning to create my own 3d engine (extremely basic) just to learn how it is done.

My boy friend's planning on using one to make a portable retro arcade station. He really likes the raspberry pi and uses it at work too.

No I have an Arduino Uno https://www.humblebundle.com/downloads?key=NE8sSNDba3RprkRU