The Raspberry Pi Interactive Timeline · 2006–2026
This article provides a historical retrospective of the Raspberry Pi, tracing its evolution from a university prototype to a globally successful educational computer. It highlights key milestones, including the foundation's charity status and the massive demand for the original $35 device.
Why it matters
The Raspberry Pi revolutionized affordable computing and computer science education, influencing a generation of developers and hobbyists.
From university prototype to the best-selling British computer: every milestone in hardware, software and company history — I’ve been documenting them here on the blog since 2014. Filter by category, expand the events, and share any entry via direct link.
From a university prototype tackling falling computer science applications to a $35 computer that crashes servers.
At the University of Cambridge, Eben Upton notices that fewer and fewer young people are applying to study computer science — and that the applicants lack the hands-on tinkering experience of the home-computer generation. The first Atmel-based prototypes are built: still a long way from the later Pi, but the mission is already set — a computer so cheap that every kid can experiment with one.
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