FIGURE 1.1 The Raspberry Pi, Model B. Note the paperclip for scale.Raspberry Pi History
The Raspberry Pi is still a fairly young device. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eben Upton
and a few colleagues. The first commercial version, Model A, was officially offered for sale in early
2012 at the low price of $25.
By the Way: Different Raspberry Pi Names
People use a few different names for the Raspberry Pi. You also will see it called
names such as RPi and just Pi.Upton created the Raspberry Pi to address a concern that he and others in his field shared: Too few
young people were getting involved in computer science. Offering a cheap, flexible, and small
computing device seemed like a good way to trigger more interest.
Upton formed the Raspberry Pi Foundation, with expected sales around 10,000 units. When the
Raspberry Pi went on sale in February 2012, it sold out immediately. An upgraded model, Model B,
was offered during late summer 2012, and sales continued to skyrocket. While the Pi was originally
created to spark young people’s interest in computers, it has also caught the attention of home
hobbyist, entrepreneurs, and educators worldwide. In just one year, the Raspberry Pi Foundation sold
approximately 1 million Raspberry Pi computers!
Did You Know: Supporting the Raspberry Pi Foundation
The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charitable organization. It asks that you help support
its cause of sparking young people’s interest in computers, by purchasing a Raspberry
Pi! http://www.raspberrypi.orgRaspberry Pi owners have used their devices in a variety of really creative projects. People around
the world have used Pi to create fun projects, like voice-controlled garage door openers, weather
stations, and pinball machines. Also, business-oriented projects have been done, such as using the
Raspberry Pi to demonstrate potential computer security threats.
Why Learn to Program Python on a Raspberry Pi?
A common thread in Raspberry Pi projects is the use of the Python programming language. Python
allows a Raspberry Pi owner to increase the field of project possibilities to an incredible size.
Python is an interpreted object-oriented and cross-platform programming language. It is also one of
the most popular programming languages, due to its reliability, clear syntax, and ease of use. Python
is an elegant, powerful language.
The Raspberry Pi offers an incredibly cheap development platform for Python programming. Though
Python can be considered “educational” because it is easy to learn, by no means is Python wimpy.
Armed with Python and Pi, your only limit is your imagination. You can write games in Python and
run them on gaming consoles controlled by your Raspberry Pi. You can write programs to control
robots attached to your Raspberry Pi. Or you could be like Dave Akerman and send your Raspberry
Pi over 39,000 miles above the earth to take incredible pictures (see http://www.daveakerman.com/?