The Raspberry Pi Included in Limited Edition British Stamp
The UK’s Royal Mail postal service has announced it will be launching a collection of six stamps to celebrate 50 years worth of British Engineering, and the humble Raspberry Pi has made the short list. Available for purchase on May the 2nd, you can buy a presentation stamp pack at any post-office across the country, or from the Royal Mail’s website directly.
Whatever your thoughts on Raspberry Pi and their place in the grand world of computing, it’s hard to deny just how great of an impact it’s had on the industry. Whether it’s on Windows or Linux, thanks to revolutionising the home hobbyist’s ambitions, getting kids into coding again, and expanding just what’s capable in the big corporate tech sector (especially with displays), the small little company’s reach has been nothing short of incredible, selling over 25 million of the little devices worldwide. It’s good to see RPi be recognised for its grand efforts, even if it is just on the humble 1st class British stamp.
We reached out to Eben Upton CEO of Raspberry Pi and he said: "Britain has always been, and remains, one of the best places in the world to do engineering. We're incredibly honoured to be featured on this special stamp set, alongside world-changing innovations like magnetic resonance imagining and the catalytic converter. This is a lovely bit of recognition, and a spur to keep pushing the boundaries in the future."
Raspberry Pi commented directly on the decision in one of its blog posts stating:
“We don’t envy the people having to make the choices about what to put on stamps like this: how do you sift through fifty years of great engineering in a country like Great Britain that produces so much to admire? We’re very proud to have been included”
The complete collection will set you back about £13, and includes a booklet on British engineering, and a piece on the 50th anniversary of the Harrier Jump Jet. That’s about £8.80 more than a standard book of 1st class stamps, however you can also pick up the six stamps together on their own for £9.85 if you’re not as interested in those flying machines.
Also included with the Raspberry Pi stamp are ones featuring catalytic converters, superconducting magnets for MRI scanners, synthetic bone-graft material, the falkirk wheel rotating boot lift, and Crossrail’s 26 miles of new rail tunnels under London.
This set of stamps also commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s MacRobert award, something Raspberry Pi won back in 2017, which is “the UK’s longest running and most prestigious national prize for engineering and innovation”. The award was given thanks to Raspberry Pi’s help in generating more interest in computer science and programming, since the likes of the BBC Micro and the ZX Spectrum had been retired.
Image Credit: Royal Mail
