I am not sure why they compare it to the RPi it looks like a microcontroller board not a small general purpose computer. I feel like Arduino is already doing very well in this space but the LED array is a nice feature.
Unfortunately despite their best efforts, the BBC are not necessary as clued up as they could be on the tech reporting front. They likely compare it to an RPi because they look vaguely similar from a distance, if you're short sighted.
They don't make any comparisons anywhere in the linked article. The only mention of the RPi is in the context of connectivity with other devices:
> And the Micro Bit can even connect and communicate with these other devices, including Arduino, Galileo, Kano and Raspberry Pi, as well as other Micro Bits
In fairness this is really just a press release, not a news item. The tone and technical content of the release suggests quite probably that it is not written by one of their technology hacks (and by that I mean journalists such as Rory Cellan-Jones). Rather it's a management level tech summary or proposal packaged up for PR use.
That's not really fair – it's because the Raspberry Pi is a popular enough platform that people outside of the tech industry have heard about it. That makes it a useful point of comparison.
The Raspberry Pi is a board which, according to its foundation, targets a similar market - enabling children in education to learn how computers work and how to program[0]. It's also rather well-known.
