It's the Susan Boyle of the IT world. The $35 Linux computer has unexpectedly turned in what Raspberry Pi Foundation's Eben Upton calls a "two orders magnitude demand surprise" - one million units in the first year. What was intended as a cost-effective educational tool has taken off with its own download store and fast-growing apps ecosystem. Best of all, it may have arrived just in time to service the burgeoning M2M market with just what it needs: a low-powered, low-cost, small footprint, high functioning, programmable control unit.