Tiny $35 Raspberry Pi computer causes big stir on launch day

A fully functioning computer for just $35!  Apparently it's as simple as Raspberry Pi.  Eben Upton came up with the idea in 2006 as he watched the number of applicants to Computer Science programs that possessed actual programming experience declining at an alarming rate.  In the 1990s Upton saw many applicants that were experienced hobbyist programers, but by the 2000s kids were applying that had little more programming experience than simple web design.  Upton deduced that the reason for this radical shift was because current computers and gaming consoles were so expensive that parents had forbidden their children from tampering with them.  While this is a completely logical reaction on the part of the parents it was not providing children with an opportunity to learn basic programming.

By 2008 Upton and his team were able to take advantage of processors that were being developed for mobile applications, but at the same time would suit the needs of his simple computer.  Now, nearly three years later the project is at the end of its first run of developement, and project is garnering incredible interest from across multiple markets. "Developing countries are interested in the Raspberry Pi as productivity devices in areas that simply can’t afford the power and hardware needed to run a traditional desktop PC; hospitals and museums have contacted us to find out about using the Raspberry Pi to drive display devices. Parents of severely disabled kids have talked to us about monitoring and accessibility applications; and there seem to be a million and one people out there with hot soldering irons who want to make a robot."

This message comes directly from the company's website, www.raspberrypi.org. "We don’t claim to have all the answers. We don’t think that the Raspberry Pi is a fix to all of the world’s computing issues; we do believe that we can be a catalyst. We want to see cheap, accessible, programmable computers everywhere; we actively encourage other companies to clone what we’re doing. We want to break the paradigm where without spending hundreds of pounds on a PC, families can’t use the internet. We want owning a truly personal computer to be normal for children. We think that 2012 is going to be a very exciting year."

And in fact they were right.  The response to the Raspberry Pi personal computing system was so overwhelming that when it was launched in early March 2012 distributer's websites crashed almost instantly and the product sold out within hours.

Coming across as nothing more than a credit card-sized circuit board, "the powerful, fully-programmable PC can plug into any TV and can power 3D graphics and Blu-ray video playback."

(Click to Enlarge)

In an interview with CNN, Upton informed them that he is currently working on a version of the computer that will retail for only $25 and will being starting production within the next several weeks.  Upton's hope is that this device will spur the creative minds of young people and result in an additional 1,000 engineers in the UK each year.  He views the Raspberry Pi as a potential "industry-changing development."  In Upton's mind, "anyone who expresses a desire to get into designing software should have a platform to do it."

Like any good entrepreneur Upton saw a problem, identified an opportunity, and set out to create a solution that now appears to be on its way to becoming a successful business.