WHATÕS HAPPENING
Raspberry Pi opens fi rst high-street shop
Raspberry Pi – the multi-award-winning maker
of low-cost, credit card-sized PCs that was
co-founded by IED president Pete Lomas –
has opened its fi rst bricks-and-mortar shop,
in Cambridge. The move bucks the online
shopping trend and, in doing so, joins several
e-retail giants, including Amazon, that are
also opening bricks-and-mortar shops.
Raspberry Pi’s fi rst retail location is
designed to be an experiential space, offering
an environment in which visitors can try their
hand at programming the tiny PCs. Alongside
a large range of Raspberry Pi’s existing
products and merchandise, the new shop
will also offer an ‘Everything you need to get
started with Raspberry Pi’ kit. This includes
the latest Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, alongside
a complete set of offi cial peripherals, and
everything beginners need to get started with
programming their PCs.
Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK-based
charity that provides low-cost Raspberry Pi
Eben Upton: the shop provides potential
customers with a chance to learn about
Raspberry Pi.
computers for people to use both to learn
and have fun. It develops free resources to
help learners, trains teachers to support them,
runs networks of volunteer-led computing
clubs for children, and provides support to
educators, volunteers, and parents who want
to help young people learn about computing
and digital making. “Opening Raspberry
Pi’s fi rst shop, and introducing the new kit,
Floating solar farm launch
United Utilities is building a fl oating solar farm on the surface of
Langthwaite Reservoir, Lancaster. The power generated will be used
to run the neighbouring water treatment works.
In a part of the UK renowned for its rainfall, it might seem bizarre
to turn to the power of the sun, but the company says it’s a match
made in heaven. Richard Waggitt, head of renewable energy at
United Utilities, explains: “In this case, water and electricity really do
mix. Solar panels are more effi cient than they used to be; there is a
misconception that you need high levels of sunlight, when, in fact,
daylight is suffi cient.
“What you do need is unshaded space for the arrays and that’s
where the surface area of our reservoirs is a real advantage.”
The new fl oating array at Lancaster will be around 7,200m2 in
size, with around 3,520 solar panels. The installation will cover
an area the size of a football pitch and provide 1MW of power –
the equivalent of the needs of 200 homes.
are important steps on our way to achieving
broader adoption of our products,” said Eben
Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi (Trading).
“Our vision has always been to make lowcost
PCs accessible to everyone: the shop
provides potential customers with a chance to
learn about Raspberry Pi, while at the same
time giving us a chance to learn more about
their needs. The kit is intended to provide a
smoother out-of-box experience for this group
of new customers,” he added.
The new Raspberry Pi shop is located in
Cambridge’s Grand Arcade shopping centre,
home to more than 60 high street and luxury
retailers, in the city where Raspberry Pi
was founded and is still based.
Find out more about Raspberry Pi at:
www.raspberrypi.org.
30 www.ied.org.uk
/www.raspberrypi.org
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