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Perhaps it could be some kind of shack where radio components could be found... Really though I think fast shipping will suffice for most people. Once we get d

by 51lver 8y ago

Perhaps it could be some kind of shack where radio components could be found... Really though I think fast shipping will suffice for most people. Once we get delivery down to under an hour, in city, with reasonable component prices, we should be able to source what we need easily enough. I'm imagining something like jimmyjohns meets sparkfun (and now I'm drooling).

samstave 8y ago
I have a theory about what killed the radio-shack star: PACKAGING. Fucking packaging kills "hobby" interests. Radio shack became "random aisle from fry's electronics" pretty easily. Fry's is complicit in the murder of radio shack -- but the fact that they individually began packaging everything and selling things as expensive individual components in blister/cardboard crap - rather than in a much more organic manner really limited the Hacker energy. They attempted to bolt themselves to the "charging cable industry" -- (which deserves its own place in tech hell) -- and that failed. They were then reduced to a charicature of themselves when they were selling 'MAKE::' kits... I lament for the sould of what Radio Shack once could have been...
- ghaff 8y ago
  Radio Shack had an identity crisis for much of its history and going back to at least the 70s they were as much about selling mostly crappy audio, toys, etc. as they were about selling components. I suspect big box electronic retailers played as big a part in killing them as anything else. But there was also a period, during which Heathkits went away, when it became much more difficult to do interesting stuff as a casual electronics hobbyist at home. Things like Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, 3D printers, Linux, etc. arguably made a new generation of hardware hacking possible but those came later.
  - enobrev 8y ago
    Are you trying to say that the TRS-80 wasn't a top-of-the-line luxury computer?
    - ghaff 8y ago
      The TRS-80 at its peak was actually a pretty logical outgrowth of Radio Shack's ham radio and electronic hobbyist business. It outsold the Apple II at one point, but then the entire market basically shifted to Apple and the IBM PC and clones.
- Retric 8y ago
  I think the core issue is 50’s tech simply had vastly fewer parts. Now days even covering every major type of LED takes significant shelf space. The way around this IMO was if they had added a in store pickup + some large regional warehouses. Free/Discounted next day shipping to the store of your choice or more to your house, could have really enabled hobbyists without costing the company much. In larger markets they could have even done some same day shipping to stores.
- aj7 8y ago
  I think this is a little nutty. This business has been subsumed by digikey, findchips.com, mouser, etc. Do you really have the time or inclination to get in a car and rummage through bins? Isn't designing, simulating, or even reading data sheets a better use of your time?
  - ams6110 8y ago
    For me, trying to put myself in the mind of an aspiring/learning electronics hacker -- yes. I want to rummage through bins. I want to touch the components. I don't want to stare at a computer screen trying to conjure up the proper search terms to find what I'm looking for. Later, as I get more advanced, yes, I can see the online vendors making more sense.
    - tlow 8y ago
      The thing you're touching on here I think is also some degree of freedom for iterative and spontaneous revision/change. A searchable catalog is great when you already know what you need. A catalog is also great when you have no idea what you need, but there's a huge delay in the feedback loop with a catalog compared to bins. To empower a discovery process during creation, it helps to have "saturated space" or something akin to untold quantities and varieties of "bins".
    - 51lver 8y ago
      I too love rummaging through my bins and wondering what is possible. I think the hacker mind just works like "I wonder if X could be made to do Y..."

by 51lver 8y ago

samstave 8y ago

I have a theory about what killed the radio-shack star: PACKAGING. Fucking packaging kills "hobby" interests. Radio shack became "random aisle from fry's electronics" pretty easily. Fry's is complicit in the murder of radio shack -- but the fact that they individually began packaging everything and selling things as expensive individual components in blister/cardboard crap - rather than in a much more organic manner really limited the Hacker energy. They attempted to bolt themselves to the "charging cable industry" -- (which deserves its own place in tech hell) -- and that failed. They were then reduced to a charicature of themselves when they were selling 'MAKE::' kits... I lament for the sould of what Radio Shack once could have been...

ghaff 8y ago
Radio Shack had an identity crisis for much of its history and going back to at least the 70s they were as much about selling mostly crappy audio, toys, etc. as they were about selling components. I suspect big box electronic retailers played as big a part in killing them as anything else. But there was also a period, during which Heathkits went away, when it became much more difficult to do interesting stuff as a casual electronics hobbyist at home. Things like Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, 3D printers, Linux, etc. arguably made a new generation of hardware hacking possible but those came later.
- enobrev 8y ago
  Are you trying to say that the TRS-80 wasn't a top-of-the-line luxury computer?
  - ghaff 8y ago
    The TRS-80 at its peak was actually a pretty logical outgrowth of Radio Shack's ham radio and electronic hobbyist business. It outsold the Apple II at one point, but then the entire market basically shifted to Apple and the IBM PC and clones.
Retric 8y ago
I think the core issue is 50’s tech simply had vastly fewer parts. Now days even covering every major type of LED takes significant shelf space. The way around this IMO was if they had added a in store pickup + some large regional warehouses. Free/Discounted next day shipping to the store of your choice or more to your house, could have really enabled hobbyists without costing the company much. In larger markets they could have even done some same day shipping to stores.
aj7 8y ago
I think this is a little nutty. This business has been subsumed by digikey, findchips.com, mouser, etc. Do you really have the time or inclination to get in a car and rummage through bins? Isn't designing, simulating, or even reading data sheets a better use of your time?
- ams6110 8y ago
  For me, trying to put myself in the mind of an aspiring/learning electronics hacker -- yes. I want to rummage through bins. I want to touch the components. I don't want to stare at a computer screen trying to conjure up the proper search terms to find what I'm looking for. Later, as I get more advanced, yes, I can see the online vendors making more sense.
  - tlow 8y ago
    The thing you're touching on here I think is also some degree of freedom for iterative and spontaneous revision/change. A searchable catalog is great when you already know what you need. A catalog is also great when you have no idea what you need, but there's a huge delay in the feedback loop with a catalog compared to bins. To empower a discovery process during creation, it helps to have "saturated space" or something akin to untold quantities and varieties of "bins".
  - 51lver 8y ago
    I too love rummaging through my bins and wondering what is possible. I think the hacker mind just works like "I wonder if X could be made to do Y..."