Q&A with Eben Upton: How Raspberry Pi Is Navigating the COVID-19 Crisis
July 01, 2020
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Since its 2012 debut, the Raspberry Pi has transformed the way engineers and makers approach electronic system design. The compact, general-purpose computer enables countless new innovations every day in the maker community, in classrooms, and throughout industry. I recently asked Founder Eben Upton about how his team is navigating the COVID-19 crisis and their approach to industry. 
"The Foundation (our charitable shareholder) has done some great work in producing courses and content (Digital Making at Home, for example) to specifically address people affected by the lockdown measures. And, of course, their existing content (FutureLearn courses, for example) have seen increased uptake, and completion, during the crisis. On the commercial and technical side, we’re concentrating on keeping production going in the face of some supply chain challenges. We had our second-best month ever in March, as people stocked up on things to play with at home. And we’ve had a few new product releases — the High-Quality Camera, for instance — which happened to be scheduled in this window, which has kept things interesting."
I also asked Upton about what might be in the pipeline. He responded:
"We don’t discuss unannounced products, though you’ll see we’ve just released the 8GB version of Raspberry Pi 4: it’s our most capable (and at $75 most expensive!) product ever. I think you’re going to see a real focus on software over the next 12 months, as we squeeze all the available performance out of the Raspberry Pi 4 platform, and close the last functionality gaps that separate us from 'traditional' x86 PCs."
Eben Upton on RPi's Approach
When asked about how Raspberry Pi is addressing the market, Eben Upton said:"The Foundation (our charitable shareholder) has done some great work in producing courses and content (Digital Making at Home, for example) to specifically address people affected by the lockdown measures. And, of course, their existing content (FutureLearn courses, for example) have seen increased uptake, and completion, during the crisis. On the commercial and technical side, we’re concentrating on keeping production going in the face of some supply chain challenges. We had our second-best month ever in March, as people stocked up on things to play with at home. And we’ve had a few new product releases — the High-Quality Camera, for instance — which happened to be scheduled in this window, which has kept things interesting."
I also asked Upton about what might be in the pipeline. He responded:
"We don’t discuss unannounced products, though you’ll see we’ve just released the 8GB version of Raspberry Pi 4: it’s our most capable (and at $75 most expensive!) product ever. I think you’re going to see a real focus on software over the next 12 months, as we squeeze all the available performance out of the Raspberry Pi 4 platform, and close the last functionality gaps that separate us from 'traditional' x86 PCs."
Free Download: Elektor Industry (Electronics in Challenging Times)
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