The Lost Tribes of RadioShack
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The Lost Tribes of RadioShack
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Re: The Lost Tribes of RadioShack
#2> But it also served as a portent that the hands-on way of life RadioShack embodied would become irrelevant.
Well; yes and no. I think a lot of 'tinkerers' now spend their time hacking. I know I prefer programming to fiddling around with little bits and pieces that have to be bought and assembled. It's a much more "self-sufficient" world in that you don't need to pop out to Radio Shack to buy that little piece you're missing.
Re: The Lost Tribes of RadioShack
#3> But it also served as a portent that the hands-on way of life RadioShack embodied would become irrelevant. Well; yes and no. I think a lot of 'tinkerers' now spend their time hacking. I know I prefer programming to fiddling around with little bits and pieces that have to be bought and assembled. It's a much more "self-sufficient" world in that you don't need to pop out to Radio Shack to buy that little piece you're…
I'm probably atypical but I got my first two cell phones at Radio Shack yet I still think of them as the place to get LEDs for weird projects or a sterio to mono headphone jack converter. I should take a trip and check out the North Bay store from the article. Sounds like my kind of place.
Re: The Lost Tribes of RadioShack
#4Previous appearance on HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1336052
Re: The Lost Tribes of RadioShack
#5> But it also served as a portent that the hands-on way of life RadioShack embodied would become irrelevant. Well; yes and no. I think a lot of 'tinkerers' now spend their time hacking. I know I prefer programming to fiddling around with little bits and pieces that have to be bought and assembled. It's a much more "self-sufficient" world in that you don't need to pop out to Radio Shack to buy that little piece you're…
Or rather, the little pieces you need are usually libraries or frameworks or freely available software. The open source ecosystem and Google is a developer's Radio Shack.
Re: The Lost Tribes of RadioShack
#6Forget Radio Shack, anyone remember Heathkit?
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/30/business/plug-is-pulled-on...
http://img807.imageshack.us/img807/5103/h100cat851.jpg
I remember puzzling over everything in the store as a kid, it was fascinating and I couldn't afford anything but the free catalogs. I knew those super-dooper expensive computers were the future. (Eventually built a Heathkit AM radio).
Re: The Lost Tribes of RadioShack
#7Digikey is the new Radio Shack. Nicer selection, but you can't just drive there since they're online.
Re: The Lost Tribes of RadioShack
#8Forget Radio Shack, anyone remember Heathkit? http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/30/business/plug-is-pulled-on... http://img807.imageshack.us/img807/5103/h100cat851.jpg I remember puzzling over everything in the store as a kid, it was fascinating and I couldn't afford anything but the free catalogs. I knew those super-dooper expensive computers were the future. (Eventually built a Heathkit AM radio).
I can still smell the solder from the one heath kit I put together - a pair of intercoms.
Re: The Lost Tribes of RadioShack
#9Forget Radio Shack, anyone remember Heathkit? http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/30/business/plug-is-pulled-on... http://img807.imageshack.us/img807/5103/h100cat851.jpg I remember puzzling over everything in the store as a kid, it was fascinating and I couldn't afford anything but the free catalogs. I knew those super-dooper expensive computers were the future. (Eventually built a Heathkit AM radio).
Kit electronics aren't dead, they're just ... resting.
Elecraft (http://www.elecraft.com/) is the spiritual successor of Heathkit, at least in terms of some of the Ham radio kits. They're not cheap and contain a lot of ASICs, so you're not really putting them together from bare components, but it's still a fair bit of work with the 'ol soldering iron.
Qkits also has some neat stuff, including a software-defined oscilloscope (http://store.qkits.com/moreinfo.cfm/PCSGU250).
There are sometimes similar things for other test equipment. The key indicators of whether you can find something in kit form are: 1) is it expensive to buy assembled? 2) is it expensive less because of the underlying technology than because of manufacturer markup? 3) is it something that a lot of hobbyists would want to own?
Hence a lot of oscilloscope and function-generator and counter kits, some radio kits, but not so many digital camera kits. I have seen an increasing number of MP3 player kits though, which is interesting; it suggests that the underlying parts aren't the main cost drivers anymore.
Re: The Lost Tribes of RadioShack
#10Forget Radio Shack, anyone remember Heathkit? http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/30/business/plug-is-pulled-on... http://img807.imageshack.us/img807/5103/h100cat851.jpg I remember puzzling over everything in the store as a kid, it was fascinating and I couldn't afford anything but the free catalogs. I knew those super-dooper expensive computers were the future. (Eventually built a Heathkit AM radio).
Kit electronics aren't dead, they're just ... resting. Elecraft ( http://www.elecraft.com/ ) is the spiritual successor of Heathkit, at least in terms of some of the Ham radio kits. They're not cheap and contain a lot of ASICs, so you're not really putting them together from bare components, but it's still a fair bit of work with the 'ol soldering iron. Qkits also has some neat stuff, including a software-defined osc…
I think the prevalence of MP3 player kits is tied to the fact that they are simple, and nearly everyone can enjoy a MP3 player, so it seems like it has become a little bit of the hobbyist hardware equivalent of "Hello World".