
Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge - hardmaru
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-47143411
======
claytonius
I had a minute to check it out over lunch - most of the floorspace is
dedicated to demonstrating what the raspberry pi can do at a high level. They
had stations for coding, gaming, sensors, etc. but only ~1/4th of the space
was devoted to inventory. While they have a decent selection of Pis, sensor
kits, and accessories, it's definitely not a replacement for Maplin.
Additionally, Already__Taken seems to have been correct about the level of
knowledge among the staff - not everyone working there was technical. This is
definitely aimed at the general public.

~~~
Aissen
Did they sell the Pi at the $35 price (+VAT I guess) ? Because it seems that
the brick-and-mortar stores I've been to strugle with this very-thin margin
pricing.

If you had a physical place where you could source sticker-price raspberry pis
it would already be quit good.

~~~
claytonius
The prices were very low -- if I remember correctly the zero was £4.50 and the
zero W was £5.00. I went in looking for a motor so I didn't catch the price of
the Pi B+ etc. Sorry!

~~~
Aissen
No worries, answering my own question, there's a picture showing the prices on
their website: [https://www.raspberrypi.org/app/uploads/2019/02/Pi-
Shelf.png](https://www.raspberrypi.org/app/uploads/2019/02/Pi-Shelf.png)

It's 32£, which is less than on amazon.co.uk (currently 33.95£, varying
between 33 and 36 over the last month). I'm guessing it's pretty good.

You can occasionnally find them for less on chinese websites, but I haven't
seen a deal in a while, and you need to wait at least 3 weeks to get one;
which is pretty much the opposite of brick-and-mortar store.

------
bdz
Some photos of the store
[https://twitter.com/Raspberry_Pi/status/1093454153534398464](https://twitter.com/Raspberry_Pi/status/1093454153534398464)

~~~
whywhywhywhy
Looks like an Apple Store light edition.

Not really convinced the design and branding of the store matches up well with
the realities of their actual product.

~~~
ekianjo
Yeah. Brand-wise, I would rather see the Raspberry Pi shop like a kind of
bazaar where you find everything in all sorts of places rather than a very
tidy and clean place where everything is in order. The "everything should look
like what Apple does" is really tiring and generic these days.

~~~
folkrav
The "RPi is for nerds" shtick is specifically what they're probably trying to
get rid of with that store. Looking approachable is a pretty key component of
that.

Doesn't really look like an Apple Store either, unless wood and white is now
reserved for Apple...

~~~
whywhywhywhy
> Looking approachable is a pretty key component of that.

Agreed, the other key component though is actually making their machine and
software/hardware approachable, smooth, performant and reliable. Which they
haven't really put any effort in to since they started.

I really wanted the dream of an affordable computer for kids to be a reality
but at the end of the day when the $35 just isn't as performant as a budget
tablet around the same price then kids are going to just end up with tablets
and never have the opportunity to crack the machine open.

If the product doesn't live up to the sales pitch of the store, then the
product is just going to get returned.

~~~
HeadsUpHigh
Tinkering is not the same as consuming media/games. The kids who play with
tablets and the kids who tinker with pis are completely different
demographics( or the same person at different times). While I agree that the
rpi leaves a lot to be desired( and other boards have left it in the dust
hardware-wise) it is still the most accessible board out there and to say that
they haven't improved on that is false( especially with software).

~~~
whywhywhywhy
I totally get that I just think there is a lot of value to the tinkering being
possible on the device they use for everything else.

How many kids got a PC to play games on but while bored found QBasic and
Gorillas.bas.

How many kids on MySpace or NeoPets learnt HTML/CSS as a way to customize
their profiles.

This all used to be a reality when kids grew up using a general purpose
computing platform, now the choices are a Tablet that works as a general
purpose platform you can't tinker with or a board you can only tinker on but
not use as a computer.

~~~
HeadsUpHigh
I agree. But a tablet is only possible because you can't tinker with it(
hardware limitations, how would you fit connectors etc in it?). The software
side of things could be better but you also have to keep in mind that an RPi
makes both hardware and software tinkering on a very cheap package. Tinkering
with software on an old PC was possible but tinkering with hardware would risk
a fairly expensive machine.

------
adav
Perhaps this is in reaction to Maplin’s troubles? That would previously have
been the only place I would have thought of to buy a Raspberry Pi on the high
street.

~~~
tonylemesmer
It would be ace to be able to walk into a RPi shop and be able to purchase
LEDs, resistors, OLED screens, ESP8266 modules, breadboards etc.

Maplin was a great shop and open on the weekends was often a lifesaver.

~~~
H1Supreme
When Radio Shack in the US still had components for sale, they were absurdly
more expensive than Digikey or Mouser. I think I remember a 5 pack of 220ohm
resistors being $2.99. Digikey will sell you 100 for under two dollars.

I suppose it would have to do if you're in a pinch, but there's a reason walk-
in electronics stores have mostly vanished.

~~~
fenwick67
It was still a lifesaver when I wanted resistors, LEDs or other components
ASAP.

$3 is still cheaper than digikey shipping.

------
Already__Taken
I Hope it's more of games workshop type affair. You're just not going to have
useful staff that know about this equipment long term operating a shop floor.
You can barely get anyone that knows much about a phone beyond the box from
phone specialists.

~~~
benj111
Agreed. I was thinking more of a hacker space that little Timmy's mum would be
happy to visit.

I cant see it surviving as just a shop. Shops can't even survive selling full
size PCs, there isn't _that_ much more repeat custom to expect from something
that costs 2 orders of magnitude less.

------
sharninder
Interesting move, but why? Are they really planning to or currently selling to
the general retail public?

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
Given that it's a university town with strong tech links, the general retail
public in Cambridge is going to be quite different to the general retail
public in most of the rest of the UK.

I'm not convinced the idea makes sense financially, unless they're selling all
of the extras and kit parts needed to make the Pi do something useful.

If they are, then fine. If not this might look a little like a vanity move -
not because it's a bad idea, but because retail in the UK can be insanely
expensive to run, and it's outrageously hard to make it profitable.

~~~
pdpi
In my understanding, the new reality here is that brick-and-mortar stores are
increasingly becoming showrooms to support online sales, with brands closing
smaller shops and focusing on big "experiential" flagship stores.

The description somebody else gave here of the Pi shop as "more of an event
space than a store" would tie in well with this strategy.

~~~
SmallDeadGuy
Yeah that's what I've noticed, too. In Cambridge we have a Tesla store in the
main shopping centre, which is just a Model S and a Model X on display in a
small room with some people that talk about it. I don't think they actually
make any sales there, it's just for marketing purposes.

~~~
cptskippy
> I don't think they actually make any sales there, it's just for marketing
> purposes.

They do. The sales process is basically the Sales Rep sitting you in front of
a PC and letting you order it through the Tesla website while they sit idly by
to answer any questions and guide you through the ordering process. It takes
less than 15 minutes.

It's stupid simple and zero pressure compared to regular automotive sales.

~~~
cptskippy
For clarification, the entire process isn't done in front of a PC in the
showroom and everything you do in the showroom you can also do from home.

In the showroom you customize your vehicle, place a reservation order, and pay
an initial order amount (e.g. ~$3500 for the Model 3). You'll then receive two
emails, the first confirms your order and the second provides you next steps
you must perform.

The next steps are:

1 - Select Delivery Location

2 - Provide copies of Driver's License

3 - Provide proof of Vehicle Insurance

4 - Provide Payment Method

5 - Process Trade-In

The steps don't have to be completed in any particular order but I was
instructed to wait on steps 3 and 4 until after I received a hard delivery
date from Tesla.

It's all handled electronically and is relativity simple. The Payment can also
be done upon delivery.

------
leejo
Makes sense - their offices are (were?) based in Cambridge just up the road
from the city centre and about a 15min walk from the new shop. Little trivia:
in my previous job I worked in the offices that would be taken over by
Raspberry Pi a couple of years later :)

~~~
entity345
Yes, they are based in Cambridge and so is the main Broadcom office in the UK.
And so is Arm...

~~~
SmallDeadGuy
Yeah I work in the office next to them, same floor same building. And
previously worked for Arm. And I have a friend working at Qualcomm just down
the road from me, too. Quite a small little world here :)

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raverbashing
It's surprising that it has become the best selling British computer even it
being a hobbyist oriented product

~~~
analognoise
If you've ever worked on a vintage British car's electrical system, you
wouldn't be surprised that the only thing the global marketplace decided the
British should handle, electrically, would be hobby-oriented. </smacktalk>

~~~
linksnapzz
I would pay real money for an Rpi with Lucas components. Extra if it could
somehow be convinced to leak oil and not boot when the outside temp is below
10C.

------
chrisseaton
When did the British start calling shops ‘stores’?

~~~
bloak
In both standard written and colloquial British English it's almost always
"shop", but the term "store" is normal in the jargon used by people in the
retail business. It's quite common to hear the word "store" used in a public
announcement in a shop, for example.

There are many things like that. For example, normal people say "tin", in my
experience, but the signs in a shop seem to use "can" more often than "tin",
bizarrely. You'd probably find many similar example if you walked round some
UK shops looking at all the labels.

There's also a whole work/office jargon used in modern Britain: words and
grammar that people use at work but wouldn't normally use at home or in the
pub.

In general I don't like jargon. To me it seems both pretentious and small-
minded. On the other hand, an obscure technical term, used correctly, is like
a beam of sunlight or a breath of fresh air. To me, at least. Though they
sometimes borrow from each other, jargon and technical vocabulary are very
different things.

~~~
chrisseaton
Purchase vs buy, beverage vs drink. Not sure what the point in these slightly
more technical sounding words that people seem to like to use.

~~~
cs02rm0
Utilise vs use is the one that makes me want to get a bit stabby, especially
when they correct their use of the word use to change it for utilise.

Sorry, I mean inclined to lacerate.

------
alexellisuk
Looking forward to doing a trip to Cambridge to check it out. Did it open
already?

~~~
Khoth
It opens on Thursday apparently.

------
teekert
Every time I see that case it irks me that it can't close with dupont cables
attached to the GPIO pins, not just the lid, the whole case is useless. Other
than that... Love the Pi, love the idea of a store.

------
arcaster
I wouldn't be surprised if the store eventually meets a similar demise to the
"MakerBot Store" on Newbury street in Boston did a few years back.

Really cool stuff, just nobody ever really seemed to have a reason to buy
anything of reason in the store.

I bought filament for my home-built 3-d printer there maybe once - only
because it was higher quality than what MicroCenter carried and was a color
I'd otherwise have to order.

But obv most people in the store weren't buying $2k 3d printers - anyone who
happened to already own a 3d printer knew that MakerBot's tech was garbage.

------
ChrisRR
Hurry up and announce a Raspberry Pi 4 already! I want to give you more money

~~~
danaos
The rpi foundation are in trouble. The current SoC is old, limited at 1GB
maximum RAM, and the GPU core is dated from 2011, 8 years ago.

In my opinion they should severe ties with Broadloom and open up to global
competition.

~~~
fsloth
There is inherent value in having a stable, battle tested platform. The fact
that the same chip has been sold for general public for the last 8 years is to
me rather appealing than a turn off.

Given the complexity of the modern software stack, there have been a zillion
bugs that have ruined _someone elses_ day and have been hopefully fixed.

Although, I have no idea of the support quality of the Pi foundation since I
have not used their products.

The platform is sufficiently beefy to run lot of non-trivial applications.
It's not like those applications have magically increased in complexity.

We've just been brainwashed in the consumer space to always demand bigger
numbers so that the vendors have something new to sell. There is really no
need for a certain category of desktop applications to get any slower with
time, or, to be able to provide any more value regardless how fast they are
run if the interactivity level is already so fast that improvements would be
undetectable by humans.

Note: this is not an argument that the current Pi "is fast enough for
everything". I'm saying it's fast enough for some things, and the mature
software stack is considerable added value.

~~~
snazz
I agree with this sentiment, but I do think that the RPi Foundation is going
to have a hard time improving from their current state without breaking
backwards compatibility, because they made some decisions early on that no
longer make much sense today.

The big ones, in my opinion, are the write-limited, slow SD card interface,
the microUSB power connector, the 1GB maximum RAM, Ethernet that shares
bandwidth with USB, and ever-increasing power requirements.

I think the Pi Foundation wants to churn out more new units by increasing the
CPU speed, but with the super slow SD interface and the capped-out RAM,
performance hasn’t made significant improvements in a long time.

I also think it was a bad decision to not focus on open-source software with
the Pi. They have been including proprietary user space applications forever
(Mathematica, for instance), the GPU boots a proprietary ThreadX operating
system that has DMA and complete CPU control, and the thing requires lots of
binary blobs to boot. The education aspect (particularly as a low-level
programming platform) would have been made more accessible without such an
opaque boot process.

~~~
fsloth
"The education aspect (particularly as a low-level programming platform) would
have been made more accessible without such an opaque boot process."

Not that I disagree, but as a counterpoint learning programming with Scratch
has very little to do with getting to know the implementation details of the
underlying computational substrate. I'm a software professional and I can't
bother with that stuff! I'm far more interested in fiddling with _my_ programs
than tweaking the underlying substrate. I don't think this is a stance
everyone should take but I don't feel a worse person because of it. I can
administer my own machine but I don't enjoy it.

~~~
benj111
I cant speak for anyone else, but I got into programming from using Linux. The
fact that you have all these languages just there, and its all an open system
etc really encourages you that yes this is something you can do, and not just
toy examples. I've seen the same point made about boot to Basic, 8 bit
computers also.

I don't by contrast program on my phone because it just feels like a gimmicky
toy.

I'm not saying the raspberry pi is anything like a phone in this regard, but
in does have a limit to how far you can dig, and that's a real shame.

Is it limiting to the scratch programmers? Probably not, but the Scratch
programmers read about and move on Python, who then move on C. But if the boot
process isn't open, there isn't anyone to write about it, so people don't
discover it. Which for an educational endeavour is problematic.

~~~
fsloth
By the time person has moved on to C from scratch I find it likely they would
have acquired a less restrained computer. Likewise, the fact you can't easily
reverse engineer a rasberry does not stop one from getting a less restrained
computer.

~~~
snazz
Maybe this is true, but I would much rather work on my own operating system as
an experiment on a small, simpler, inexpensive machine that I wouldn’t feel
bad messing up. Although I applaud what the RPi people have done for computing
education, this still feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.

------
Siemens
Is anyone aware of a way to cheaply purchase multiple Raspberry Pi Zero W's?
They are sold at $10 but are limited to 1 per person. If you want to buy more,
the price is around $20 each. That's a big price difference if you are buying
30 out of pocket to teach a class.

~~~
cbhl
If you're going to teach a class, I'd recommend going out of your way to give
each student a Pi 3 Model B+. The additional ports means that the device can
be useful as a general-purpose computer outside of class (just hook up a
keyboard, mouse, and monitor/TV).

I realize the difference between $300 and $1050 is a lot, but you get way more
hardware at the $35 price point. Building the institutional muscle to figure
out how to get the additional $650 in funding is a good skill set as a
teacher. (If you're at a school, there might be special funds set aside for
buying STEM equipment you can tap into. You might also be able to get some
money through the charity arms of local companies, or out of a local bank's
petty cash fund. If you're teaching students at the middle-school or high-
school age, you can ask them to help with the fundraising process. If you're
teaching adults, just charge each adult a fee to cover the hardware cost.)

~~~
dingaling
> just charge each adult a fee to cover the hardware cost

That seems a quick way to discourage adults from taking programming courses.
Should they pay for a chair and table too? Or a screen? Of course not, that
cost is amortised across many classes.

It's ridiculous that the Foundation makes bulk purchasing so difficult when
the original vision for the RPi was for education. But that was fairly quickly
forgotten when it became the darling of hackerspaces and upselling became the
priority.

------
bobowzki
I'm wondering how brexit will affect Raspberry Pi pricing?

~~~
giobox
No one can really answer this with certainty, given (somewhat tragically) no
one has agreed what “Brexit” even is yet.

As one example, if May’s current deal somehow was to be made tenable to
Parliament, there would probably be little/no change at all.

------
djmobley
Looking at the photos, this looks more like an event space than a store.

Still, good to see the Raspberry Pi team continuing to fulfil their mission.

------
swebs
Cambridge UK, not Cambridge Massachusetts.

