Raspberry Pi’s are a popular entry point to the world of computing. The revolutionary first model hit the market in 2012. Cheap enough to allow amateurs and teachers to use it, compact enough to fit in a pocket and endlessly flexible. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken sales to new heights and we’re looking at why.
Online learning has been a prominent feature of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every family with a school-aged child has brought the classroom into their home via a screen. The online learning boom didn’t stop there though. Deprived of the opportunity to go out and socialise or enrol in an evening class, adults have taken up distance learning too.
What can we expect?
Raspberry Pi’s allow at-home users to program, add interfaces and control their existing media devices. The sky’s the limit with online tutorials, courses and creative programming.
Some of us looked to formal classes to learn at home but far more of us took a more DIY approach. Kits to make your own pottery, books about learning an instrument and crafting supplies have all seen rapid growth. Raspberry Pi’s are right in step with this trend, only more versatile.
Perhaps you always dreamed of setting up an automated watering system for your garden, programming responsive lights in your house or making a robot at home? A Raspberry Pi is the perfect starting point for all those projects.
Coding courses and apps have also seen an unprecedented boom during the COVID-19 pandemic. Partially because of the at-home learning trend, but also because coding is only becoming a more desirable skill. With more self-taught coders, the market for Raspberry Pi’s has grown.
The possibilities are endless
The Raspberry Pi is particularly appealing to self-taught coders because it can be programmed through Python. Python is a popular, full function programming language for those teaching themselves to code. The syntax is relatively clear and a user needs less underlying knowledge about computation to make a working program.
For self-taught Pythonistas, a computer that allows them to use the language has a special appeal. They can continue their journey of self-directed learning and gain more ways to use what they already know.
For parents, home-schooling for the first time, the idea of a single device that allows them to do dozens of projects is very appealing. Trying to build STEM skills while your kids are at home gets much easier when you have a Raspberry Pi. You can build simple games, a weather station or control simple LED lights and keep little ones endlessly amused.
The modest price of Raspberry Pi’s is also attractive for people with one eye on their finances during the pandemic. Additional pieces of kit and user interfaces can be bought as part of kits, or added on later as needed. A way to use a Raspberry Pi is there for almost any budget.
Raspberry Pi’s are fun, versatile, cost-effective, easy to get started with. Those features have always been appealing to computing fans. The pandemic didn’t make Raspberry Pi’s great. The Pi Hut and other retailers of the miniature computing powerhouse have seen more traffic than ever because we are all desperate for the stimulation, learning and accessibility that a Raspberry Pi provides.
