[TriLUG] Article on Radio Shack's Demise

[Scott Lambdin via TriLUG]

Now which one of you will start an electronics shop?  Somebody has to do it.

--Scott

On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 11:38 AM, C TC via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org> wrote:

> "Radio Shack lost its way when it ditched its hobbyist customers"
>
> Nice read. The title says it all.
>
> I've missed the "real" shack for quite a long time now. Nothing will
> replace the first time I went there. My Grandfather took me to get wiring
> and a few other small parts to make my slot cars go faster. There was no
> looking back after that!
>
> In these last two decades; where we can to type "how to ..." into a search
> bar, and some guy somewhere will walk you through a total build, or repair
> of anything ... The Shack was never in the top search results. Not to
> mention that the parts lists from said how-to's were mostly non-Radio Shack
> links.
>
> IMO: When they gave up on passing knowledge to customers, they immediately
> lost their true fan base. I say this knowing how tough it is for a
> storefront to keep up/compete with the amount of new information currently
> at our fingertips.
>
> However, you would have thought that the walls and parts bins would have
> been restocked with Arduinos, RPi's, embedded hobby boards, and all things
> related to the new forms of tinkering. Reestablishing itself as a DIY
> headquarters. Such is the way of our new world economy. Evolve or die.
> Tweet or get of the pot.
>
> I need some 16AWG wire, shrink wrap, solder, and other small bits for a new
> project. Looks like I'll get it from them, instead of spreading orders
> across multiple on line vendors to save a few pennies. I always over buy,
> suffering from "and two of these" disease. Besides, it will be fun trying
> to get to the car without the parts cutting their way through that terribly
> thin white and red bag one last time.
>
> On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 10:11 AM, via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org> wrote:
>
> > I came across an article that I thought was interesting and thought I
> > would pass it on:
> >
> >
> http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21643461-radio-shack-lost-its-way-when-it-ditched-its-hobbyist-customers-making-it
> >
> > It discusses a lot of topics that have come across this mailing list over
> > the last several months such as the Raspberry Pi and the evolution of
> > hobbyist electronics.
> >
> > It also provides a trip down memory lane for middle age folks such as
> > myself that got their first computer, a Commodore 64, back when their age
> > was in the single digits, talking about the Altair, the Z80, and green
> > screen monitors.
> > --
> > This message was sent to: Carl <c.crider at gmail.com>
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> --
> This message was sent to: Scott Lambdin <lopaki at gmail.com>
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>