Demand for Raspberry Pi ‘at 700 per second’

Demand for the innovative tiny computer Raspberry Pi is currently running at 700 per second, claims one of the system’s main UK distributors.

Speaking to The Guardian, chief exec Harriet Green of UK re-seller RS and Farnell said that demand was “20 times greater than our supply”, and added that the price would not be raised to take advantage of consumer interest.

The device, which looks to revolutionise computer science for young students, launched last week selling at £22, and sold out of its initial 10,000 units, crashing the re-seller’s website in the process.

Green claimed that the device had attracted interest from a country in the Middle East looking to issue a computer to every schoolgirl to improve career prospects.

“The inclusion of girls is very important,” she said.

“A survey a couple of years ago which asked women aged 13 to 18 what they wanted to be, and it was quite salutary to read the results. The primary thing they wanted to be was a superstar or a Wag.

“There weren’t any wanting to be businesswomen, lawyers or journalists. I’m not a programmer, but it isn’t hard with the right capability."

Created by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, of which Frontier boss and Develop columnist David Braben is a prominent member, the computer is designed to be as open as possible, so as to a give students access to a fully fledged PC experience and, crucially, provide them with the opportunity to cut their teeth on creative computer programming.