3 ms·
> So I don't know what is missing from supplying the "builders" market. It's an extremely small selection, compared to what it was in the early 90's (that I re
by phil21 10y ago
> So I don't know what is missing from supplying the "builders" market.
It's an extremely small selection, compared to what it was in the early 90's (that I remember - and I remember older folks complaining about how far it had gone down hill even then).
There just is no store I can wander around these days (or series of stores) where I can visualize exactly what I need to build some project. For example I needed recently to put some electronics in a waterproof outdoor box, and cable it up nice with proper waterproof conduit.
For someone who has done that sort of thing 500 times for work, you know exactly what to order and what everything is called and how it will fit. For someone who never has I really miss just being able to go to a hobby/electronics store and actually see the components I'd need to put something together - usually modifying my plans in the process as I see what is available I never knew existed before.
This makes "making things" really hard for the beginner and removes a ton of spontaneous "lets just figure it out and get it done" type of projects - at least for me. There is no store to run back to to swap out that $1.50 component I bought the wrong part number of. Minutes/hours of latency to days at best.
- xyzzy123 10y agoOne way to get around this is to buy bulk assorted components off aliexpress or eBay. The prices are better than they've ever been, but yeah, time lag in supply chain (1 month or so) really sucks.
- kw71 10y agoBeware, some of that stuff is extremely sketchy. Stuff that you used to take for granted, like ceramic capacitors, are being mismarked or poorly made now. What good is an assortment of X7R grade caps anyway, even if they are not out of spec?
- fapjacks 10y agoThe crap RadioShack sells is no less sketchy, believe me. I don't buy caps from RS anymore specifically because they seem to source the worst possible. They just sell crap.
- Spooky23 10y agoWhen shack was in its heyday, you needed all of those parts to fix radios, TVs, etc. Electronics became disposable, TV repair went away, and the radio shack shifted.
- hkmurakami 10y agoI wish that's the direction Fry's Electronics had headed in, rather than be an even crappier version of Best Buy...
- foobarian 10y agoSadly that kind of ecosystem has migrated over to Shenzhen.
- kosherbeefcake 10y agoAfter the Arduino had come out, and amateur projects were coming out from that, I visited a small hobby electronics store, looking to gather some information, buy some starter gear, and get into the hobby. I chatted with the sales clerk, who was on the younger side, that I should go back to school for electrical engineering, because that's the only way I'd learn the hobby. I bought an Arduino afterwards, but never used it. That encounter effectively killed it for me.
- qxamak 10y agoNot only was that sales clerk bad at his job (discouraging you from pursuing something that you're already interested in), but he was also very wrong. I'm an electrical engineer who develops hardware similar to the Arduino for a living. I'm still constantly amazed by the things my friends, mostly artists and web designers, make using Arduinos and Raspberry Pis. I remember buying one of the first Arduinos and thinking, "Why did I even go to school? They've made everything so much easier." My friends still ask me questions and help them troubleshoot things; but for the most part, there are tutorials and forums that often provide more information that I can. Sparkfun and Adafruit have a lot of great beginner level tutorials, but they also have some really complex and challenging projects too.