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Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge

bbc.com

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Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge

#111

Post by benj111 »

makomk wrote: post #89
benj111 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see what you're saying, but don't you then run the risk of people not understanding what they're buying. It's ok selling it like an iphone, but if people are expecting an iphone, they're going to be disappointed. Apple branding, stores and USP all kind of complement each other in that minimalist 'just works' feel. Raspi isn't that.

They don't care so long as they can spin it as the buyer's fault. Early on, before the Pi even launched, they encouraged grassroots marketing campaigns which (amongst other things) promoted the Pi as a consumer-y kind of home entertainment device. One of their forum members pointed out that this might lead to disappointment because it really wasn't a plug-and-play consumer device and required a certain amount of tech…

Do you have any links to point to? I don't recall any of that kind of marketing.

Here is a contemporaneous example where the focus is very much on education

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-17190918

Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge

#112

Post by matthewmcg »

theoh wrote: post #95
giarc wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are exactly right. The customers who want the bazaar with lots of parts are already their customer and will continue to be their customer regardless of a brick and mortar store. This is trying to attract a new customer.

Let's be clear on this: the store is not located in Cambridge because there is a particularly large untapped market there. It is located in Cambridge because of the Pi's ties to the city. Maybe the huge success of the device means that there is active pressure on the RPi folks to diversify or to create a physical manifestation of the brand. Maybe a bricks and mortar store is just a vain indulgence, though I'd hope no…

Context for the use of "technically sweet":

DR. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER: "If the development by the enemy as well as by us of thermonuclear weapons could have been averted, I think we would be in a somewhat safer world today than we are...I do not think we want to argue technical questions here, and I do not think it is very meaningful for me to speculate as to how we would have responded had the technical picture at that time been more as it was later. However, it is my judgment in these things that when you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb. I do not think anybody opposed making it; there were some debates about what to do with it after it was made. I cannot very well imagine if we had known in late 1949 what we got to know by early 1951 that the tone of our report would have been the same."

Setting aside the association of this phrase with the development of terrifying weapons, I think it is apt for the Raspberry Pi. The has lowered the barrier for entry to so many projects that you can just go ahead and make things rather than worrying about whether the utility of the thing is worth its cost or risk. Certainly Pi projects seem to be proliferating in my house...

Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge

#113

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

mustardo wrote: post #53
FerretFred wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here, but only if it doesn't need > 3.5 amp PSU.

3.5A @ 240v or 5v? Watt is "power" current is largely meaningless without voltage

Are there any SBCs that run on 240v!? The RPi is 5v. Unless you're deliberately ignoring the whole context of the conversation just to be pedantic.

Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge

#114

Post by daddylonglegs »

wlll wrote: post #49
yardstick wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was sad to see Maplin go. Does anyone know of any other DIY electronics stores / chains in the UK? (I miss JayCar in AU, or what DSE/Dick Smiths used to be before it went under)

Rapid Electronics or Farnell are the ones I use. Online only as far as I know, but that's fine by me, the Maplin staff rarely knew anything of use IME, and delivery is fast enough.

There is also RS Components - the RS / Farnell rivalry (or duopoly) is the big one for low volume electronic components in the UK. RS do have trade counters in a couple of dozen industrial estates around the country but I think they are only open office hours.

Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge

#115

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

megous wrote: post #82
danaos wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I suppose they quite like the fact that if you build something on Rpi you have to buy from Rpi and can't go on to design your own board and buy the SoC from Broadcom.

Is this true? It seems there are plenty of SBCs out there that share an identical form factor and are pin-compatible with the Pi's GPIO.

Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge

#116

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

raverbashing wrote: post #6

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

I suppose previous British computers such as the BBC, ZX Spectrum etc weren't generally known and available globally like the Pi is.

Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge

#117

Post by wlll »

daddylonglegs wrote: post #114
wlll wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rapid Electronics or Farnell are the ones I use. Online only as far as I know, but that's fine by me, the Maplin staff rarely knew anything of use IME, and delivery is fast enough.

There is also RS Components - the RS / Farnell rivalry (or duopoly) is the big one for low volume electronic components in the UK. RS do have trade counters in a couple of dozen industrial estates around the country but I think they are only open office hours.

You know, when I said rapid I actually meant RS!

Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge

#118

Post by giobox »

SmallDeadGuy wrote: post #64
pdpi wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

I may be wrong, but I believe that’s how almost every Tesla showroom operates. It’s arguably one of the upsides of their direct sales model vs the traditional dealership.

They usually do make sales, or direct you to the site to complete the purchase, but the whole experience is supposed to be designed to improve on the classic horrid car dealership sales process.

Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge

#119

Post by giobox »

bobowzki wrote: post #90

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

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.

Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge

#120

Post by folkrav »

wolfgke wrote: post #99
folkrav wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

> The "RPi is for nerds" shtick is specifically what they're probably trying to get rid of with that store. Companies should be very careful not to alienate their core audience that made them big. In the past, lots of companies in their plans to widen their audiences made this mistake.

I fail to see how having a clean looking store alienates anyone. If it does, these people should look back at their priorities in life.
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