5 ms·

Please, please, Amazon, leave 1/16 of the shelf space for electronic components! Pack them densely, don't offer customer support, and charge high prices. We n

by blt 12y ago

Please, please, Amazon, leave 1/16 of the shelf space for electronic components! Pack them densely, don't offer customer support, and charge high prices. We need brick and mortar places to buy components. It might be worth a lot of goodwill from electronics tinkerers. Although I guess that's not a big enough group to matter, but who knows...

derefr 12y ago
You know where I can buy a lot of common electronic components these days? Home Depot. Buildings are increasingly wired with various digital sensors, so electricians are increasingly in need of electronic this-and-that to couple them together. Sure, you can't build whole from-scratch circuits purely from hardware-store parts, but if you run out of resistors/pots/whatever, you can restock pretty cheaply in any town big enough to have professional electricians operating out of it. Also, I should probably point out that a lot of places (e.g. Best Buy) still do sell electronic components—they just sell combinations of them in lots and call the result a "hobbyist kit." It's much easier on their shelf space, and their employees, to just carry one SKU that you can point anyone looking for components at, which will give them most of what they might need. For all the other stuff (what you might think of as a "booster pack" to a hobbyist kit's "base pack"), there's no more economical way to get exactly what you want than ordering online anyway. Expecting there to be a store in every rural town carrying every random IC one might need for a project is just insane, when you can order a pull-sheet of them for $2 no matter where you are.
- WalterBright 12y ago
  On the other hand, consider the chain store "Tacoma Screw" around here. They sell what you would expect - screws, nuts and bolts, of every description, type, grade, hardness, length, head, etc. It's a marvelous place for an engineer like me. The prices are, of course, high, but when I break a bolt or lose one for my car or other project, Tacoma Screw has an exact (or better) replacement. The hardware store sells bolts and nuts, too, but the selection is erratic and the quality is dubious. When I don't want my transmission falling off, I want top quality bolts guaranteed.
  - atwebb 12y ago
    I never knew how badly I wanted a store like this around, there've been so many times I'm mid-project or rebuild and the old bolt/nut/fastener/whatever either breaks/gets lost/shot and I just have to wait for the part to come in or wade through the bins at a hardware store which have been waded through by everyone else and now I'm frustrated...
    - WalterBright 12y ago
      Whenever I've gone in, there was always a line at the counter! I use them for all replacement bolts in my car except for internal engine bolts, where I source them from racing suppliers.
  - azernik 12y ago
    Or, for the online, next-day delivery version of this, McMaster-Carr. For example, here's their catalog for one type of (rather expensive) screw: http://www.mcmaster.com/#socket-head-cap-screws/=vrc2nx http://www.mcmaster.com/#socket-head-cap-screws/=vrc2nx
    - Gracana 12y ago
      I love how much information McMaster gives you. Mechanical drawings and 3D CAD models of course, and also descriptions of how things are used, the properties of different materials, how to size stuff, etc. All the basic things you need to know to design something.
    - character0 12y ago
      As a studio art major in another life, I can't recommend McMaster-Carr enough! I was doing a lot of metal fabrication, lighting, and plexiglass work, I can't imagine finishing my thesis without their selection and speed. Not to mention all I learned just by reading their great descriptions and images.
    - thorntonbf 12y ago
      McMaster-Carr's fulfillment services are truly top-notch. There have been times that I've specifically ordered from them because I knew that I'd have it the next day. They've never failed to impress me with their service. Their physical catalog is one hard catalog that I really miss! Despite the fact that the website undoubtedly offers more product than the multi-thousand paged hard edition, I remember many projects in my college days inspired by simply flipping through it's pages.
psychometry 12y ago
You might already have Amazon's same-day delivery available: http://www.amazon.com/b?node=8729023011 http://www.amazon.com/b?node=8729023011
seanp2k2 12y ago
If you're in the Bay Area, halted.com has a store in Santa Clara that totally blew my mind. Dozens of aisles of electronics components, including racks of reels of surface-mount stuff. They also have stuff like used oscilloscopes, industrial robotics controllers, etc.
- CamperBob2 12y ago
  If you're in the Bay Area, you never needed Radio Shack to begin with. Their market is (was) the rest of us, here in flyover territory.
  - VonGuard 12y ago
    Yeah, not everyone has access to Fry's or Weird Stuff, sadly.
    - wl 12y ago
      And even Frys has been getting worse and worse. Fortunately, Jameco is still local, even if it is a bit of a drive.
- larrys 12y ago
  I have no need for any of that yet I could walk around a store like that for hours and hours.
- kenrikm 12y ago
  Try HSC Electronic Supply.. down in San Jose That'll really blow your mind. Edit: I just clicked the link and realized that is the same place lol, yeah it is awesome.
  - linker3000 12y ago
    I live in the UK but my company's head office is in San Jose and I should be visiting in the near future so I'll have to pop in!
- 12y ago

by blt 12y ago

derefr 12y ago

You know where I can buy a lot of common electronic components these days? Home Depot. Buildings are increasingly wired with various digital sensors, so electricians are increasingly in need of electronic this-and-that to couple them together. Sure, you can't build whole from-scratch circuits purely from hardware-store parts, but if you run out of resistors/pots/whatever, you can restock pretty cheaply in any town big enough to have professional electricians operating out of it. Also, I should probably point out that a lot of places (e.g. Best Buy) still do sell electronic components—they just sell combinations of them in lots and call the result a "hobbyist kit." It's much easier on their shelf space, and their employees, to just carry one SKU that you can point anyone looking for components at, which will give them most of what they might need. For all the other stuff (what you might think of as a "booster pack" to a hobbyist kit's "base pack"), there's no more economical way to get exactly what you want than ordering online anyway. Expecting there to be a store in every rural town carrying every random IC one might need for a project is just insane, when you can order a pull-sheet of them for $2 no matter where you are.

WalterBright 12y ago
On the other hand, consider the chain store "Tacoma Screw" around here. They sell what you would expect - screws, nuts and bolts, of every description, type, grade, hardness, length, head, etc. It's a marvelous place for an engineer like me. The prices are, of course, high, but when I break a bolt or lose one for my car or other project, Tacoma Screw has an exact (or better) replacement. The hardware store sells bolts and nuts, too, but the selection is erratic and the quality is dubious. When I don't want my transmission falling off, I want top quality bolts guaranteed.
- atwebb 12y ago
  I never knew how badly I wanted a store like this around, there've been so many times I'm mid-project or rebuild and the old bolt/nut/fastener/whatever either breaks/gets lost/shot and I just have to wait for the part to come in or wade through the bins at a hardware store which have been waded through by everyone else and now I'm frustrated...
  - WalterBright 12y ago
    Whenever I've gone in, there was always a line at the counter! I use them for all replacement bolts in my car except for internal engine bolts, where I source them from racing suppliers.
- azernik 12y ago
  Or, for the online, next-day delivery version of this, McMaster-Carr. For example, here's their catalog for one type of (rather expensive) screw: http://www.mcmaster.com/#socket-head-cap-screws/=vrc2nx http://www.mcmaster.com/#socket-head-cap-screws/=vrc2nx
  - Gracana 12y ago
    I love how much information McMaster gives you. Mechanical drawings and 3D CAD models of course, and also descriptions of how things are used, the properties of different materials, how to size stuff, etc. All the basic things you need to know to design something.
  - character0 12y ago
    As a studio art major in another life, I can't recommend McMaster-Carr enough! I was doing a lot of metal fabrication, lighting, and plexiglass work, I can't imagine finishing my thesis without their selection and speed. Not to mention all I learned just by reading their great descriptions and images.
  - thorntonbf 12y ago
    McMaster-Carr's fulfillment services are truly top-notch. There have been times that I've specifically ordered from them because I knew that I'd have it the next day. They've never failed to impress me with their service. Their physical catalog is one hard catalog that I really miss! Despite the fact that the website undoubtedly offers more product than the multi-thousand paged hard edition, I remember many projects in my college days inspired by simply flipping through it's pages.

psychometry 12y ago

You might already have Amazon's same-day delivery available: http://www.amazon.com/b?node=8729023011 http://www.amazon.com/b?node=8729023011

seanp2k2 12y ago

If you're in the Bay Area, halted.com has a store in Santa Clara that totally blew my mind. Dozens of aisles of electronics components, including racks of reels of surface-mount stuff. They also have stuff like used oscilloscopes, industrial robotics controllers, etc.

CamperBob2 12y ago
If you're in the Bay Area, you never needed Radio Shack to begin with. Their market is (was) the rest of us, here in flyover territory.
- VonGuard 12y ago
  Yeah, not everyone has access to Fry's or Weird Stuff, sadly.
  - wl 12y ago
    And even Frys has been getting worse and worse. Fortunately, Jameco is still local, even if it is a bit of a drive.
larrys 12y ago
I have no need for any of that yet I could walk around a store like that for hours and hours.
kenrikm 12y ago
Try HSC Electronic Supply.. down in San Jose That'll really blow your mind. Edit: I just clicked the link and realized that is the same place lol, yeah it is awesome.
- linker3000 12y ago
  I live in the UK but my company's head office is in San Jose and I should be visiting in the near future so I'll have to pop in!
12y ago