The Raspberry Pi: One year since launch, one million sold | Ars Technica

The folks who built the Raspberry Pi knew they had a great idea, but they probably didn't anticipate just how successful it would be. The Raspberry Pi Foundation today is celebrating the computer's first birthday, a million devices sold, and countless DIY and programming projects completed.

The credit card-sized, ARM-based computer was released on Feb. 29, 2012 and can be purchased for $25 or $35 depending on the model. In a blog post titled "Happy birthday to us!" foundation community manager Liz Upton wrote that today is "as near as we can get [to the anniversary date]; we launched on a leap day last year. We’re going to have a really great party in 2016."

"We never thought we’d find ourselves in the position we’re in today, with a million Pis sold, a sprawling community, real evidence that kids are picking the Pi up and learning with it, and new friends from all over the world," she also wrote.

Numerous people involved in the Pi's development shared their thoughts. Among them was Gordon Hollingworth, who left a job at Broadcom to become head of software at the Pi foundation. "I remember [Raspberry Pi creator] Eben [Upton] telling me about the Foundation’s plan to create the hardware based on BCM2835 (a chip I had a lot of involvement in creating), and him saying that he thought 10K was a good number to start with!"

The Raspberry Pi is so popular that supply was often unable to meet demand over its first year. If you're looking to buy one, they can be found at Element14, RS, and Allied Electronics.

The Pi has been used as a tool to teach and learn programming, and users have produced all sorts of cool stuff, including arcade cabinets, robots, and wearable computers. If you want to see some of the best projects from the Pi's first year, check out our feature "10 Raspberry Pi creations that show how amazing the tiny PC can be."