Bill Gates once predicted that computers would enter every household like televisions. However, the price of mainstream computers has remained around $1000 (approximately 6000 RMB). So, is there a cheaper solution? The Raspberry Pi stands out as a computer that costs only $100 (approximately 600 RMB).
The Raspberry Pi is a micro single-board computer. This micro single-board design consolidates all the chips together, effectively lowering production costs. Additionally, the Raspberry Pi itself does not include any devices other than the main unit, which must be purchased separately.
First Generation Raspberry Pi
Due to cost considerations, the Raspberry Pi uses an ARM architecture CPU produced by Broadcom. The CPU performance is only sufficient to run the system and some small software. Starting from the third generation of the Raspberry Pi, the CPU was upgraded to the ARMv8 version, with a clock speed reaching 1.2GHz, finally exceeding 1GHz. From the fourth generation of the Raspberry Pi, memory options of 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB became available, allowing the system to keep some memory-intensive software in memory and providing smoother graphical operations.
Fourth Generation Raspberry Pi
Although the host performance is not high, the interfaces are particularly rich. In addition to USB ports, there are network ports, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, allowing for good connectivity with the outside world. Notably, it provides General-purpose input/output (GPIO) pins, which can output signals and provide 5V and 3.3V power.
Although the Raspberry Pi is an “independent” computer, it relies on external display devices. The earliest Raspberry Pi considered compatibility, supporting RCA ports for output to PAL and NTSC televisions, while also choosing HDMI ports, which are available on all LCD TVs. Additionally, the Raspberry Pi does not include input devices and requires users to configure their own mouse and keyboard.
The Raspberry Pi can serve as an introductory computer, a machine for learning software development languages, or even a small robot development platform. For more information, you can visit the official website: https://www.raspberrypi.com.
Note: Images are sourced from Wikipedia.