Raspberry Pi 4
Launched in February 2012, the Raspberry Pi was marketed as an educational tool, designed to introduce children to coding and computer circuits. But programmers, makers, hackers and hobbyists grasped the huge potential of the Pi. To date it has shipped 8 million units. The original Pi had a single core processor with 256 MB of RAM, a single USB port and no Ethernet connection. The Raspberry Pi 4, released in 2019, is almost unrecognisable (apart from its footprint, which has barely changed): its quad core 64Bit processor includes 4GB of RAM, boasts four USB ports, two micro HDMI ports supporting dual display and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
What distinguishes the Raspberry Pi is the fact that it is a computer – plug it into a monitor, use the USB ports for keyboard, mouse and other shields, run desktop applications, connect to the web and play HD video. The Pi can be programmed via a number of languages such as Python and Scratch.
It is difficult to overestimate the impact the Raspberry Pi has had on education, computing, science and electronics. From time-lapse photography to home industry, movie viewing to music streaming, it has become the device of choice to power IoT projects. A global user community share projects and code, while Tim Peake took two specially modified Pi's onto the International Space Station, where they will remain until 2022. Right now, somewhere in the world, a Raspberry Jam event is probably taking place.