The Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive, low-power, single-board computer which has quickly become the best-selling British PC of all time, selling six million units last year and 25 million since its launch in 2012. In 2017, it was awarded the prestigious MacRobert Award for engineering. The model was originally aimed at promoting teaching of computer science in schools and in developing countries, but has gained a strong following of hobbyists, and is increasingly adopted by businesses as an inexpensive alternative to other PCs.
"We want to see [Raspberry Pi] used as a PC by people who consider themselves to be non-technical; this is the direction of travel and this is what the shop is supposed to help us with," said Eben Upton, founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation and CEO of Raspberry Pi (Trading).
The organisation's first 'offline' retail space is based in Cambridge's Grand Arcade shopping centre, in Raspberry Pi's home city. It promises to be an "experiential space" where visitors can experiment with the single-board computers and get guidance from staff.
The shop is equipped with stations showcasing different applications of Raspberry Pis, with a seating area at the back where customers can discuss their projects, read the Raspberry Pi magazine (MagPi) and find experts to speak to. Upton hopes that this will offer a welcoming "learning environment", particularly for new customers who consider themselves non-technical.
"I think there's this recognition that bricks and mortar retail has got to evolve to survive, it's got to play to its strengths and the experiential thing is its strength," said Upton.
For beginners, the shop will offer the new "Everything you need to get stared with Raspberry Pi" kit, which contains the latest Raspberry Pi model, the official mouse, case, keyboard, power supply, and SD card, and official guidebook to help a beginner get started with programming. The kit is intended to lower barriers to entry by providing everything necessary in a single package.
"It's removing bumps in the road; when somebody goes from considering themselves non-technical to calling themselves proficient, they encounter road bumps and every time they encounter a bump there's a finite chance that bump knocks them off track," said Upton. "We're trying to eliminate that."
According to Upton, while some users will be satisfied simply following instructions to set up the PC, the organisation has included a guidebook full of suggestions for interesting projects, through which new users can use their initiative and learn programming skills.
"There's always a fine line between doing everything for somebody so they don't have a learning experience, and reducing these powerful roadblocks," he added. "It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if somebody got this and then just used it to surf the web […] but it'd be a shame if the only thing people did with it was to replace existing hardware."