[TriLUG] Article on Radio Shack's Demise

[William Sutton via TriLUG]

I guess that explains why the 555 timers I used in a project in the 80's 
didn't work.  *sigh*

William Sutton

On Wed, 18 Feb 2015, Scott Chilcote via TriLUG wrote:

> On 02/18/2015 01:06 PM, Joseph Mack NA3T via TriLUG wrote:
>> On Wed, 18 Feb 2015, Joseph Mack NA3T wrote:
>>
>>>> http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21643461-radio-shack-lost-its-way-when-it-ditched-its-hobbyist-customers-making-it
>>>>
>>
>> the author seems to think that Fry's got it right. Every mention of
>> Fry's in forums I see is by someone who hates the place.
>>
>> Joe
>>
> Even when Radio Shack was going full tilt in the 70s and 80s, most of
> the hobbyists and experimenters I met had a poor opinion of their
> products. 
>
> I recall attempting to build an audio amplifier using one of their LM383
> chips, and having it work poorly. Even with good heat sinking, it
> distorted at any volume above a whisper.  I replaced it with the same
> component from Jim-Pak, and it worked fine.  I had similar experiences
> with their 74NN logic chips when I was buying them for college lab
> courses. 
>
> I heard repeatedly from people in the industry that the Shack sold
> production end-runs and seconds, so it was a crap shoot whether your
> project would work.  As much as I liked their convenience, I went
> elsewhere for electronic components whenever I could find a local source.
>
> Going back even further, I recall having much more positive experiences
> with Lafeyette Electronics and Heathkit stores.  It's a shame that geek
> supporting retailers have had so much trouble keeping their doors open.
>
>   Scott C.
>
> -- 
> Scott Chilcote
> scottchilcote at ncrrbiz.com
> Cary, NC USA
>
> -- 
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