In March, the sales of Raspberry Pi, the famous board of hobbyists and manufacturers, literally exploded, reaching 640,000, which is, as Eben Upton (founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation) noted on Twitter in the second-best month ever.
From what Upton himself told TechRepublic, the question does not only concern the creators, who have more time to work on their projects due to the constraints, but also the families who suddenly had to share a single computer.
“It used to be tolerable to have a shared computer in the family, but now every member must have one to work or learn,” Upton said. “Now everyone is at home and competing with each other to use the computer. Not everyone can afford expensive PCs for every family member, so here comes the idea of the Raspberry Pi, a worthy alternative.
In the last half of March, in particular, sales have risen sharply, while industrial sales have remained stable, while demand for Raspberry Pi 4 has grown very rapidly, showing how much the consumer wants the product. Not forgetting the recent drop in the price of 2GB Raspberry Pi 4, which has certainly made the offer even more delicious.
“It’s not like having a desktop PC where you can’t play Crysis, but if you want a system that allows you to edit documents, surf the web and use Gmail, Office 365 and all the uses of a general PC, Raspberry Pi 4 is a product that we have created to meet these needs.
During this time, the Raspberry Pi has also been used in projects for manufacturing ventilators for COVID-19 patients. A development that seems to make Upton a little uncomfortable. “It is important to stress that nobody wants to be in this business, but it is good for me and for many of us to know that we are helping. In addition to fans, Raspberry Pi’s are also used to manage 3D printers used to make doctors’ face shields or other parts used to make emergency equipment.
In short, once again – thanks to the insistence of the community – this small board is proving to be one of the most versatile and widely used, a product that is already used by many people for a wide variety of purposes, but which can also be useful for making a simple traditional PC at low cost in difficult times like these, when not everyone can afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a computer.