Celebrating the Raspberry Pi at 10
The Raspberry Pi has achieved so much more than just material success, as Neil Mohr reveals…
Les Pounder works with groups such as the Raspberry Pi Foundation to help boost people’s maker skills.
>> LIFE CHANGING
Ten years ago, I was sat at my computer waiting to purchase a Raspberry Pi. I got my Raspberry Pi, but alas I had to wait weeks for delivery. Between buying and receiving my Pi I went to the first Raspberry Jam in the world. The organiser, Alan O’Donohoe, had gathered together Raspberry Pi fans to create an evening of Pi. We played Quake 3 and ran a thin client to a Windows server. When the Raspberry Pi was still hard to buy, Pete Lomas came to Oggcamp 2012 with a car-boot full!
The Raspberry Pi has evolved. It’s now a viable desktop computer that’s sold over 40 million units. The community has grown along with the Pi, and the children who were there at the start are now adults, going into the world with fresh ideas and knowledge born from their experiences with the Pi.
What makes Raspberry Pi much more than just another computer is community. The Pi community has helped me immensely, and I have paid it forward for many years. The Raspberry Pi was the gateway to my career and it could also be yours.
Happy anniversary Raspberry Pi!
B ack in 2006 Eben Upton was playing with a veroboard-based prototype for a home-build computer concept. No one would have guessed that his project was going to kick-start a revolution in world-wide computing, not just the UK.
While the focus with the Raspberry Pi is often about the little single board computer system (SBC), its success is down to many more factors. One or two you might be able to put down to luck, but by and large hard work and a genuine need to bring low-cost, accessible computing to all, thanks to everyone at the Raspberry Pi Foundation and beyond, would be at the top of our list.
Some might find it strange that the original motivation behind creating the Raspberry Pi wasn’t to make money, but rather to educate children and young adults. In fact at the outset of the Raspberry Pi Foundation the trustees and everyone involved was doing so for free in their spare time!