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Polycom’s co-founder on the best investment he ever made

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Re: Polycom’s co-founder on the best investment he ever made

#31

Post by Spooky23 »

phil21 wrote: post #27
mikestew wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They seemed amazed that I would actually design my own circuits That shouldn't surprise you, RS employees have never had electronics knowledge. I forget the details, but as one example I remember a conversation while trying to get a replacement battery for a cordless phone for a friend of my girlfriend at the time (who is now my wife, meaning it was well over 20 years ago). Again, forget the details, but employee arg…

> So I don't know what is missing from supplying the "builders" market. It's an extremely small selection, compared to what it was in the early 90's (that I remember - and I remember older folks complaining about how far it had gone down hill even then). There just is no store I can wander around these days (or series of stores) where I can visualize exactly what I need to build some project. For example I needed rec…

When shack was in its heyday, you needed all of those parts to fix radios, TVs, etc.

Electronics became disposable, TV repair went away, and the radio shack shifted.

Re: Polycom’s co-founder on the best investment he ever made

#32

Post by hkmurakami »

phil21 wrote: post #27
mikestew wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They seemed amazed that I would actually design my own circuits That shouldn't surprise you, RS employees have never had electronics knowledge. I forget the details, but as one example I remember a conversation while trying to get a replacement battery for a cordless phone for a friend of my girlfriend at the time (who is now my wife, meaning it was well over 20 years ago). Again, forget the details, but employee arg…

> So I don't know what is missing from supplying the "builders" market. It's an extremely small selection, compared to what it was in the early 90's (that I remember - and I remember older folks complaining about how far it had gone down hill even then). There just is no store I can wander around these days (or series of stores) where I can visualize exactly what I need to build some project. For example I needed rec…

I wish that's the direction Fry's Electronics had headed in, rather than be an even crappier version of Best Buy...

Re: Polycom’s co-founder on the best investment he ever made

#33

Post by jcurbo »

coreyp_1 wrote: post #2

I'm sad to see Radio Shack so far from the "builders" market. I had to run to RS this weekend to try to find a part, only to find 3 salespeople who had no idea of how components or soldering worked. They seemed amazed that I would actually design my own circuits, while I look at what I am doing and consider it to be a bit amateurish. :(

I find it interesting that you still thought of RS as a choice. Has there been a RS you could go to for components or soldering stuff any time recently? I haven't seen one that wasn't more than just an electronics store like Best Buy in over a decade if not more.

Re: Polycom’s co-founder on the best investment he ever made

#34

Post by slewis »

jcurbo wrote: post #33
coreyp_1 wrote: post #2

I'm sad to see Radio Shack so far from the "builders" market. I had to run to RS this weekend to try to find a part, only to find 3 salespeople who had no idea of how components or soldering worked. They seemed amazed that I would actually design my own circuits, while I look at what I am doing and consider it to be a bit amateurish. :(

I find it interesting that you still thought of RS as a choice. Has there been a RS you could go to for components or soldering stuff any time recently? I haven't seen one that wasn't more than just an electronics store like Best Buy in over a decade if not more.

There was one on Mission St in San Francisco until last year. Expensive but worked in a pinch for basics (through-hole capacitor kits for example).

Re: Polycom’s co-founder on the best investment he ever made

#35

Post by foobarian »

phil21 wrote: post #27
mikestew wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They seemed amazed that I would actually design my own circuits That shouldn't surprise you, RS employees have never had electronics knowledge. I forget the details, but as one example I remember a conversation while trying to get a replacement battery for a cordless phone for a friend of my girlfriend at the time (who is now my wife, meaning it was well over 20 years ago). Again, forget the details, but employee arg…

> So I don't know what is missing from supplying the "builders" market. It's an extremely small selection, compared to what it was in the early 90's (that I remember - and I remember older folks complaining about how far it had gone down hill even then). There just is no store I can wander around these days (or series of stores) where I can visualize exactly what I need to build some project. For example I needed rec…

Sadly that kind of ecosystem has migrated over to Shenzhen.

Re: Polycom’s co-founder on the best investment he ever made

#36

Post by sverige »

These things are great devices and very functional. Still, I curse these guys since they enabled people to waste countless hours of my time over the years on ridiculous conference calls that would have been better handled by . . . email.

Oh wait, I hate email too.

But I loved the old Radio Shack. On a tangential note, Tandy Leather Co. took a precipitous dive as well. Where have all the makers gone, whether of circuits or leather things?

Re: Polycom’s co-founder on the best investment he ever made

#37

Post by fapjacks »

kw71 wrote: post #30
xyzzy123 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One way to get around this is to buy bulk assorted components off aliexpress or eBay. The prices are better than they've ever been, but yeah, time lag in supply chain (1 month or so) really sucks.

Beware, some of that stuff is extremely sketchy. Stuff that you used to take for granted, like ceramic capacitors, are being mismarked or poorly made now. What good is an assortment of X7R grade caps anyway, even if they are not out of spec?

The crap RadioShack sells is no less sketchy, believe me. I don't buy caps from RS anymore specifically because they seem to source the worst possible. They just sell crap.

Re: Polycom’s co-founder on the best investment he ever made

#38

Post by Taniwha »

mikestew wrote: post #22
coreyp_1 wrote: post #2

I'm sad to see Radio Shack so far from the "builders" market. I had to run to RS this weekend to try to find a part, only to find 3 salespeople who had no idea of how components or soldering worked. They seemed amazed that I would actually design my own circuits, while I look at what I am doing and consider it to be a bit amateurish. :(

They seemed amazed that I would actually design my own circuits That shouldn't surprise you, RS employees have never had electronics knowledge. I forget the details, but as one example I remember a conversation while trying to get a replacement battery for a cordless phone for a friend of my girlfriend at the time (who is now my wife, meaning it was well over 20 years ago). Again, forget the details, but employee arg…

5 for $2? what a rip off, I can buy a complete assortment of values - ~1500 resistors for $5 - you wont go back for resistors for a decade or so

30 seconds found me this: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot-New-Arrival-High-Quality-...

Re: Polycom’s co-founder on the best investment he ever made

#39

Post by breakingcups »

sverige wrote: post #36

These things are great devices and very functional. Still, I curse these guys since they enabled people to waste countless hours of my time over the years on ridiculous conference calls that would have been better handled by . . . email. Oh wait, I hate email too. But I loved the old Radio Shack. On a tangential note, Tandy Leather Co. took a precipitous dive as well. Where have all the makers gone, whether of circui…

Maybe you just hate how people communicate regardless of medium?

Re: Polycom’s co-founder on the best investment he ever made

#40

Post by kosherbeefcake »

phil21 wrote: post #27
mikestew wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They seemed amazed that I would actually design my own circuits That shouldn't surprise you, RS employees have never had electronics knowledge. I forget the details, but as one example I remember a conversation while trying to get a replacement battery for a cordless phone for a friend of my girlfriend at the time (who is now my wife, meaning it was well over 20 years ago). Again, forget the details, but employee arg…

> So I don't know what is missing from supplying the "builders" market. It's an extremely small selection, compared to what it was in the early 90's (that I remember - and I remember older folks complaining about how far it had gone down hill even then). There just is no store I can wander around these days (or series of stores) where I can visualize exactly what I need to build some project. For example I needed rec…

After the Arduino had come out, and amateur projects were coming out from that, I visited a small hobby electronics store, looking to gather some information, buy some starter gear, and get into the hobby.

I chatted with the sales clerk, who was on the younger side, that I should go back to school for electrical engineering, because that's the only way I'd learn the hobby. I bought an Arduino afterwards, but never used it. That encounter effectively killed it for me.

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