The Raspberry Pi is also cheap enough that I can afford the convenience of a new module for every project, rather than attempting to extract the board from the unruly tangle of wires that inevitably sprouts from its GPIO headers.
And it’s available enough that I can count on getting a new one almost anywhere in the world. This last point is crucial: the friction-free supply chain for Raspberry Pis mean I can do design in Singapore, demos in the USA, and development in China on the spur of the moment, without spending an arm and a leg on courier fees.
Like duct tape, the Pi isn’t perfect for everything – its strength comes from its versatility and availability. The turnover rate of new Pi models can be frustrating; they’re almost but not quite perfectly cross-compatible between models. The form factor and connector layouts are also a bit clumsy, and there are situations where I’ve wished for more I/O capability. They also have a tendency to fail at the worst times, which is why, whether I’m walking into a big demo, or venturing out to Burning Man, I’m sure to pack a spare Pi plus backup copies of the SD card image.
If the Pi is the duct tape of computing, Arduinos are like Scotch tape – great for light applications around the home; and the industrial SOMs are like specialty adhesives – perfect for their intended application, but too specific for the toolbox. And so, despite being designed originally for the education market, the Raspberry Pi’s versatility and ubiquity has earned it a place in this engineer’s toolbox, right next to the duct tape.
