Comment by MisterTea
19 hours ago
> > It was a "microcontroller" you could program in Python
> It was never a microcontroller by any definition of the word.
I think the poster means people treat the R-Pi like an MCU that runs Python. The Arduino was popular at the time the Pi came out but limited. Once the Pi landed, it quickly filled the gap and the Arduino's popularity diminished to the point where it's now a corporate Pi clone.
Before we had the ESP32 type products that are now popular, using a Pi was often one of the only easy ways to make simple internet connected devices at home. I remember making smart lights and home sensors, speakers, clocks and all sorts of things using the Pi Zero W. It was cheap, small and easy to get up and running.
I and many other people very much used it like a microcontroller.