Raspberry Pi -- the little computer that's bringing back engineering in a big way -- has sold about a million units. The numbers aren't concrete, but estimates peg the total at about the million figure. Which is quite some achievement.
And to celebrate, the folks who make the mini computer have put together the infographic you can see above.
"The folks at 14/Premier Farnell announced today that they alone have now made and sold more than half a million Raspberry Pis," it says on the Raspberry Pi blog. "They're only one of two official distributors; we don't have completely up-to-date figures from RS Components yet, but Farnell's news suggests that we're well on the way to having sold our millionth Raspberry Pi."
To put that in tech terms, the half a million Pis made by 14/Premier Farnell would weigh the same as 169,173 Nokia 3310s (remember those?), or 200,893 iPhone 5s. All of them stacked end to end would be taller than 11 Empire State Buildings, and higher than Felix Baumgartner's world record skydive of 128,000 feet. Laid end to end, they'd be the same length as 5,070 double decker buses. And at a cost of $17.5 million (£10.8 million), customers could've bought 4,375,000 chocolate bars. But then a Raspberry Pi is far better for you.
The Raspberry Pi was one of the best tech stories of last year, and a real triumph of British engineering. Our very own Katie Collins voted it her product of the year, as it helps today's school kids get tinkering with tech. The Pi even has its own app store, so you can easily snaffle games and software. The app store has a 'tip jar' too, so you can donate some funds even if your chosen app is free, which is a great idea.
[Source: CNET]
Is Minecraft the new Doom? It feels that way, as it's increasingly playable on every platform under the sun -- including the finally available Raspberry Pi port. After a false start in December, Mojang has posted Minecraft: Pi Edition for consumption on the tiny ARM PC. The public release is a cut-down version of Pocket Editionthat fits into the system's limited resources, including networking if you've bought the $35 Raspberry Pi unit. The limitations reduce the chances that you'll be creating virtual electronics with a device that was originally meant for very realelectronics, but try not to let the irony sting: it's a chance to create blocky virtual worlds on a computer that costs less than a good night on the town.
