My first computer, a second-hand BBC Micro with its built-in BASIC, cost me £220 in 1989. That’s £500 in today’s money. My Amiga was a little cheaper, costing £200 in 1993, but I had to save for three more months to buy the software and documentation I needed to program it. Throughout my childhood, cost limited my access to the tools I needed to learn. This is why, of all the work that we do at Raspberry Pi, driving down the cost of computing is the single thing that matters most to me.
The original Raspberry Pi Model B and its successors put a programmable computer within reach of anyone with $20-35 to spend. Now we’re taking the next step: in Raspberry Pi Zero, we finally have a computer we can sell for $5, or give away on the front of a magazine.
We all need access to tools. Cost should never be a barrier. Enjoy your Raspberry Pi Zero.
Eben Upton