3 ms·

Local independent computer shops, where people would hang out almost like an impromptu local computer club are a real loss. I miss them a lot.

• jmclnx 4y ago
  yes, I agree
• gonehome 4y ago
  What decade did those exist? The 80s?
  • klyrs 4y ago
    In my experience (I think there's some regional variation here) they were still thriving in the mid/late 90s, and I continued to frequent local computer shops until around the mid aughts. For me, there were three major factors: computers got more standardized, so one didn't need to consult a guru to make a decent system; documentation went online, see above; and finally companies like NewEgg just crushed it in terms of inventory that local shops couldn't compete with. They could special-order whatever parts you wanted, but that was slower and more expensive.
    • gonehome 4y ago
      Interesting - I think I must have just missed them, too bad because they sound cool.
      • synu 4y ago
        It may have been more of a small town thing? I’m not sure, but that was where the one I went to was. It was there until the early 2000s but the writing was on the wall in the late 90s.
  • kyriakos 4y ago
    early 90's too. internet killed them really. once communication between same minded people was possible online they transitioned from meeting places to just shops then ecommerce finished them off.