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ThinkGeek: The nerd company at a crossroads
- pnathan 13y agoThinkgeek has always been really cool. Unfortunately, some time ago they really wound down their Linux-centric products. I really miss that, as I am not really into pop culture, even geeky pop culture. A stuffed Tux mascot is no longer available from ThinkGeek (or, as far as I can tell circa the last time I looked, the general internet). I hope ThinkGeek does well, but it's refocused its efforts away from my buying interests.
- pavel_lishin 13y agoI agree; as far as I could tell from shopping for Christmas presents for my wife, ThinkGeek is largely a Dr. Who fan kiosk.
- noahm 13y agoAgreed. I've watched in dismay as their focus has shifted over the years from "#include <beer.h>" mugs and t-shirts with Larry Wall quotes on them to almost exclusively TV and movie merchandise. From my vantage point, it's not that geek culture has gone mainstream and brought Thinkgeek with it, it's that Thinkgeek has shifted to a more mainstream focus and away from geek culture. Not surprisingly, it's been years since I've ordered anything from them.
- vacri 13y agoThinkgeek was always kind've pricey. Places like DealExtreme have replaced them for me, at a tenth the price. Sure, I won't have access to NameBrand(tm) branded things... but I look at the hundreds of dollars of stuff I bought at Thinkgeek... and it's all throwaway garbage anyway. The mug that faded on its first trip through the dishwasher; the heat-sensitive coloured putty that lasted all of a couple of days before failing; the usb single-can cooling fridge that doesn't work because there's no insulation and the contact point with the can is miniscule; the list of stuff that looks better on the website than in your hands just goes on and on.
- tomfakes 13y agoI'm drinking a beer from that exact mug right now
- pnathan 13y agoIMO, there has been a merging of marketable elements of geek culture into the mainstream. Merchendise is, above all, sellable, and if you can do it, sellable to a broad audience. In one perspective on the matter, it was inevitable: fans are people highly predisposed to purchase merch; business has a vested interest in boosting sales of branded merch and executing on a spinoff and toy tie-in model. Popular culture is, quite bluntly, popular, and things like movies have a broad appeal - certainly the drama of life played out on the big screen is more broadly attractive than #include <beer.h>. All that going to say that it's no real wonder that ThinkGeek "sold out" to double down on profitable merch. I just wish I could still get an 11" Tux to terrify the non-Linux users of my workplace & home.
- cmelbye 13y agoWow, I hadn't been on the site in a few years. Kind of sad to see what it's become. Does the world really need another place to buy Big Bang Theory memorabilia?
- salgernon 13y agoI completely agree (and I'll avoid starting out by writing 'This.', cause I hate that.) I've got 15k "geek points" and I'm hard pressed to know what I'd redeem them for... So, can we get a list of alternatives for nerd (rather than pop-culture geek) shopping? For self and family? (The worst gift I gave my wife was a Micro-Vax one year... But she did like the vintage spectrometer.) http://shop.momath.org http://shop.momath.org http://adafruit.com http://adafruit.com http://www.sciplus.com http://www.sciplus.com
- spitfire 13y agoWas it an actual vintage microvax or are people reproducing FPGA microvaxes now? If it's an FPGA one I'd like to know where to get one so I can play around a bit.
- Zigurd 13y ago> The worst gift I gave my wife was a Micro-Vax You have done a service to mankind. "Well it's not like I gave you a MicroVAX" will be the first line of defense at many a geek's house come Christmas morning.
- austinz 13y agoI'm partial to sparkfun.com, makershed.com is also good (less of a focus on embedded electronics than the former).
- prawn 13y agoIn pursuing a broader audience, surely they're facing more competition?
- moron4hire 13y agoThe story from a couple of acquaintances that work there is that it's very much like a tech startup: doesn't pay very well, expects constant overtime without pay, and not very welcoming to female employees.
- Einstalbert 13y agoIf they're in California, their over-time without pay is illegal and I've seen more than one company get reamed by the Department of Labor over it.
- flatline 13y agoHmm WaPo, Fairfax, I think you may be onto something here...
- gaius 13y agoProgrammer is an exempt job.
- rhizome 13y agoNot always.
- mhurron 13y agoThe only time I've seen where it wouldn't be exempt is if you paid them hourly.
- gohrt 13y ago"Salary" jobs are exempt, but certain jobs are non-exempt by law, because the work is considered so hourly-like and non-independent that the "salary" is considered a sham. (Example: You can't be a "exempt, salaried" clerk at a store if you are required to be at the store from 8am to 6pm and are required to do a specific set of tasks in a prescribed way.)
- levesque 13y agoNitpicking on the title : ThinkGeek isn't a nerd company, it's a geek company, hence the name. Relevant XKCD : http://xkcd.com/747/ http://xkcd.com/747/
- DigitalSea 13y agoI remember a time when ThinkGeek sold a lot of cool truly nerdy products like Linux mugs and Tux mascots. I'm not a big fan of Star Wars, so the licenced Star Wars products don't appeal to me. I respect ThinkGeek as a company, but I think they need to go back to their roots a little bit if they want to move forward.
- eropple 13y ago"Move forward"? Don't you think their sales figures demonstrate better forward motion than they'd manage by "going back" (your words) to selling stuff for people who materially care about operating systems? (There's no better way to stay solvent than to chase tiny niches occupied by hypercritical people who'll drop your stuff for reasons nobody else cares about, right?)
- andrewflnr 13y agoThe problem is that you can move "forward" right through your optimal balance and not realize until it's too late that you've become just like everyone else, and are therefore commoditized, replaceable. You might still be making a bunch of money, but you're well on your way to burning out, replaced by someone who still has a mission.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- 01Michael10 13y agoI agree with ThinkGeek needing to go back to their roots. Purchased many things over the years from them but nothing recently. I have always been on their mailing list but now in the last two months get an email from them it seems like almost everyday. About to unsubscribe...
- fourstar 13y agoThinkGeek slowly becoming the Spencer's gifts of the internet. Shame since I used to love the shit they'd come out with. Remember the 8bit tie? The 1up mushroom?