The Radio Shack catalog (and Radio Shack itself) was a hugely influential part of my childhood. My grandfather (Berkeley EE '34) was a huge fan, and one of my f

The Radio Shack catalog (and Radio Shack itself) was a hugely influential part of my childhood. My grandfather (Berkeley EE '34) was a huge fan, and one of my favorite early Christmas gifts was the 75-in-1 Electronics Kit, which taught me the fundamentals of electronics. Later, I got my first computer (a TRS-80 Model I), and I would write programs for school assignments, then ride my bike to the Radio Shack Computer Center so that I could print them out. I glad we have websites like SparkFun and friends, but there was something about browsing the catalogs or visiting the stores that was creatively inspiring. (RIP Fry's) I was at MicroCenter in Cambridge yesterday, so that experience isn't totally lost, but it's harder to find.