Single Board & MCU

I’ve been keen to buy an original Raspberry Pi for some time. Unfortunately wanting something, and actually getting it, can be difficult. Although there were approx. 1 million manufactured back in 2012 they aren’t readily available in 2023!

Here is an excellent link which shows the evolution of RPi’s. The original was called the “Raspberry Pi B” which always strikes as odd…B not being the first letter in the alphabet and all. Or that the first board even had a model name.

The original model B had two versions (or more accurately Revisions):

Rev 1 below manufactured in China and noticeable for the lack of mounting holes;

Rev 2 below manufactured in England with mounting holes provided;

The specifications look well out of date compared to a contemporary RPi 4B (700MHz single core vs 1.5GHz quad core) or Radxa Rock Pi 4c+ (2 x 1.5GHz + 4 x 1.0 GHz Hexacore) however back in 2012 this was a revelation. A small, affordable, easy to use Single Board Computer.

This original model was so successful it not only spawned the next 11 years of follow on Raspberry Pi foundation product range, but also a complete industry of competitors, imitators, and peripherals.