[microtonal]

The point of the micro:bit is education, which requires it to be simple. The Raspberry Pi was made for education, but is completely overwhelming for young kids.

The micro:bit is extremely simple, just a few buttons, pins that can be used easily with crocodile clips, and a small grid of LEDs that makes it easy to draw primitive graphics.

We gave our daughter a micro:bit when she was nearly five (she is six now) and she loves it. The drag and drop programming that MakeCode offers is something that someone of that age can use to make very simple programs (push this button -> show an emoji or write your name). Seeing their program on real hardware then gives them a lot of satisfaction.

tl;dr: this is not competing with your average Linux-running ARM board or even other microcontrollers. Their goals is offering something that is fit and safe for education.

[apples_oranges]

Thank you, I see the value now. :)