The old days weren't that great. Today there is SparkFun, https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials, which is like 1000x what R

The old days weren't that great. Today there is SparkFun, https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials, which is like 1000x what Radio Shack ever was in terms of Hobby Electronics. And there are hundreds of other sites focusing on Raspberry Pi and Arduino, and then there's the Lego Mindstorm stuff... The issue today is there are too many choices, so it's a struggle to start. Pick something and go with it. Back in the day, there was very little to choose from! Depending on where you live, there may be hacker/maker spaces nearby with people to help you get started. If there isn't, there's most assuredly Ham Radio people that would love to build stuff with you.