RasPad: Raspberry Pi Tablet Is Killing It On Kickstarter

SunFounder, an education technology company based in China, is trying to make it even easier for would-be programmers of all ages to get coding and building with Raspberry Pi. The Raspad is the company’s new tablet that promises to jumpstart anyone’s Raspberry Pi experience by providing accessories, tutorials, and suggestions for first-time users.

It is slated for release on May 2018 and has received a hugely positive response on Kickstarter. RasPad’s initial goal was $10,000 when it launched on February 28. But at 11:30 a.m. Easter on March 13 it has amassed $341,489.

“It hit $30,000 in the first 24 hours and $300,000 in 10 days,” a SunFounder spokesperson tells Inverse. “This really showed us how much a product like this is needed in the market. It confirmed our theories on how more and more people are gaining an interest in programming and how more parents want their children to learn about it from an early age.”

Raspberry Pi has served as an approachable way for millions of people to get into things like building electronics and computer programming. The credit card-sized computer packs all of the punch of a PC without all of the intimidating bells and whistles of a desktop rig.

If programming is stone sculpting, Raspberry Pi turns that art form into Lego. Raspad is like a Lego set. It comes with a blueprint on how to get started, but with a little creativity you can take what you learned and turn it into your own personal masterpiece.

Raspberry Pi has been used for home automation, robotics, and Bitcoin mining. Raspad aims to make this available to an even wider audience and impart skills to a younger demographic that are necessary in today’s tech-centric job market.