Why?
Why?
Because lots of DIY projects can benefit from a computer, but a full-sized one is not necessary and too expensive or bulky for the job. A small, cheap, programmable computer enables people to make lots of projects that would be infeasible otherwise.
Answer: Why not?
The question was obviously posed by a non-engineer...:^)
Why not?
“Why?”
35 years ago I used a home computer that cost $100 in kit form. 1KB RAM. Audio cassette data storage. Home TV for a screen.
Now for $5 you can get a Raspberry Pi Zero, operating capabilities in the vicinity of the Cray 2 & iPad 2, using your home TV for a screen (and whatever stray keyboard & mouse & SD card you can find lying around unused).
100x faster.
2700x more pixels.
1,000,000x more memory.
1/20th the price.
That’s cool.
I have a need for it. Currently, I have two 3D printers. I have to connect my Mac in order to not only create what I want to print, but to control the 3D printer. I can connect a SD card to the 3D printer to print from a stored object already created, but I find that problematic if anything goes wrong. The Raspberry Pi would allow me to cheaply dedicate a computer to each printer for all print tasks. If you use 3D printers, you would know they take hours to complete a print job. This would free up my regular computers for other use.