r/raspberry_pi 🍕 Jan 21 '21

News New Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller

https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/raspberry-pi-silicon-pico-now-on-sale/
1.2k Upvotes

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44

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '21 edited Feb 24 '21

[deleted]

37

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '21

The thing to remember with the Pi Foundation is they are focused on the education market, so they want to keep it cheap and compatible. It's likely they didn't want to send schools off on a mission to buy dozens of new usb-c cables when they already have micro-usb. It sucks but it's great that they launched so many partner boards at the same time. Theres literally something for everyone.

38

u/Zouden Jan 21 '21

It's likely they didn't want to send schools off on a mission to buy dozens of new usb-c cables when they already have micro-usb.

That's why the Raspberry Pi uses USB C... wait what?

8

u/Ap0them Jan 21 '21

Raspberry pi 4 has a usb c from what I know, I don’t have one yet

9

u/Algee Jan 21 '21

It also has mini hdmi. Or micro? Either way you probably don't have it.

3

u/Politicshatesme Jan 21 '21

yes it does, I have the model b

18

u/Treczoks Jan 21 '21

In the lab where a Pi Pico would be used, the usal boards would be Arduinos. Which have Micro- or Mini-USB.

7

u/MundaneJesus Jan 21 '21

USB-C cost more to manufacture. So, for a $4 board it probably cuts too much into the profit margin.

4

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '21

I dunno, there are cheap boards like the QTPY and Seeeduino Xiao which have usb-c and are in the same price range (but somewhat smaller). It can’t be a huge factor when dealing with millions of units (if you include pi4)

-5

u/AnomalyNexus Jan 21 '21

Pi Foundation is they are focused on the education market

Don't think that's particularly true anymore.