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Dick Smith (Entrepreneur)

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Re: Dick Smith (Entrepreneur)

#11

Post by flog »

ravenstine wrote: post #3

Wow, I always kind of assumed Dick Smith was just a fictional mascot like Betty Crocker, but he was a real dude. I lived in New Zealand for a short while growing up and we used to refer to Dick Smith Electronics as "Dip-shit Electronics" because the prices could be pretty outrageous. It was otherwise a pretty cool store, though; think somewhere between Radio Shack and Best Buy.

DSE was an absolute rip off, but it was pretty much the only game in town.

As a kid it was an amazing place for me to spend an hour on the weekends pottering around all the electronic kitsets and latest computer parts/gadgets.

I would credit DSE with fostering a lot of my love of computers and technology. I am quite sad it no longer exists.

Re: Dick Smith (Entrepreneur)

#12

Post by schappim »

On a grey morning on April 1, 1978, an iceberg floated into Sydney Harbour.

Talkback radio went into meltdown as hundreds of callers jammed the switchboards to report the bizarre sight. People headed for the harbour, boats were launched and for several hours, the media provided a blow-by-blow account of the scene.

Then it started raining, the iceberg ‘melted’ and Sydney’s most elaborate April Fools hoax was revealed.

The prank was the brainchild of 34-year-old electronics entrepreneur Dick Smith.

[1] https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/sydney-april-fool...

Re: Dick Smith (Entrepreneur)

#13

Post by neurotech1 »

desertraven wrote: post #5

Dick Smith is a legend. Great sense of humour, prioritising philanthropy and buying local. My favourite product of his was the parody of Redhead Matches, a box of matches with a woman’s face on it. Dick sold matches called “Dickheads”, with his face on them. A friend of mine growing up had Dick perform an emergency landing on their property (in his plane). He must still be an avid flyer as we both attended the same a…

I had the pleasure of meeting Dick at a Christmas party many years ago.

Buying locally made, locally owned is a major priority of his and should be for every Australian.

Re: Dick Smith (Entrepreneur)

#14

Post by schappim »

Dick is a marketing genius.

If memory serves correct, when Skylab was being deorbited (eventually partially over Australia), Dick Smith provided free insurance cover to anyone standing in his Australian stores.

Re: Dick Smith (Entrepreneur)

#15

Post by ravenstine »

flog wrote: post #11
ravenstine wrote: post #3

Wow, I always kind of assumed Dick Smith was just a fictional mascot like Betty Crocker, but he was a real dude. I lived in New Zealand for a short while growing up and we used to refer to Dick Smith Electronics as "Dip-shit Electronics" because the prices could be pretty outrageous. It was otherwise a pretty cool store, though; think somewhere between Radio Shack and Best Buy.

DSE was an absolute rip off, but it was pretty much the only game in town. As a kid it was an amazing place for me to spend an hour on the weekends pottering around all the electronic kitsets and latest computer parts/gadgets. I would credit DSE with fostering a lot of my love of computers and technology. I am quite sad it no longer exists.

That reminds me... on top of the shifts in society because of COVID, it's a shame that there's no place like Dick Smith, Frys, Radio Shack, computer stores, etc., where young geeks can go and meet each other. I was a geek among geeks as a kid, but even then I still liked that I could go to electronics stores, comic shops, hobby stores, and just be around people who were kind of weird like me and also had a love for the sorts of things I was interested in. With most of today's meetups still being "remote", at least where I live, I have to wonder where the hell a young me would be able to go today. I'd just have to network through Discord and hope that my server doesn't suddenly get banned because Dischord Inc. thinks it's a group of "hackers".

Basically, I think there was something to having physical places to go to. It's a culture that seems nearly dead.

Re: Dick Smith (Entrepreneur)

#16

Post by barrysaunders »

ravenstine wrote: post #15
flog wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DSE was an absolute rip off, but it was pretty much the only game in town. As a kid it was an amazing place for me to spend an hour on the weekends pottering around all the electronic kitsets and latest computer parts/gadgets. I would credit DSE with fostering a lot of my love of computers and technology. I am quite sad it no longer exists.

That reminds me... on top of the shifts in society because of COVID, it's a shame that there's no place like Dick Smith, Frys, Radio Shack, computer stores, etc., where young geeks can go and meet each other. I was a geek among geeks as a kid, but even then I still liked that I could go to electronics stores, comic shops, hobby stores, and just be around people who were kind of weird like me and also had a love for t…

Jaycar still does a lot of this! The one in Central Park Sydney still does a lot of workshops, they have a maker hub, sell a lot of the class electronic components and things like that. Nothing like it used to be with Dick Smith and Radio Shack everywhere, but there's still a few places around.

Re: Dick Smith (Entrepreneur)

#17

Post by desertraven »

neurotech1 wrote: post #13
desertraven wrote: post #5

Dick Smith is a legend. Great sense of humour, prioritising philanthropy and buying local. My favourite product of his was the parody of Redhead Matches, a box of matches with a woman’s face on it. Dick sold matches called “Dickheads”, with his face on them. A friend of mine growing up had Dick perform an emergency landing on their property (in his plane). He must still be an avid flyer as we both attended the same a…

I had the pleasure of meeting Dick at a Christmas party many years ago. Buying locally made, locally owned is a major priority of his and should be for every Australian.

Wholeheartedly agree. Your comment gives me Aussie vibes, yet it looks like you’re in the US. Did you relocate?

Re: Dick Smith (Entrepreneur)

#18

Post by threeseed »

desertraven wrote: post #5

Dick Smith is a legend. Great sense of humour, prioritising philanthropy and buying local. My favourite product of his was the parody of Redhead Matches, a box of matches with a woman’s face on it. Dick sold matches called “Dickheads”, with his face on them. A friend of mine growing up had Dick perform an emergency landing on their property (in his plane). He must still be an avid flyer as we both attended the same a…

> Dick Smith is a legend

He was a legend.

For many of us in Australia he is remembered more for his racist, xenophobic views and efforts in advising the One Nation party.

Re: Dick Smith (Entrepreneur)

#19

Post by __d »

underwater wrote: post #4
bitwize wrote: post #2

Fun fact: Dick Smith Electronics offered tech support for their products in an attempt to emulate Apple's Genius Bar. The official name for Dick Smith's support technicians? Clever Dicks.

He also marketted an alternative to "Redhead" matches which he called "Dickheads".

IIRC, the tagline for some of his advertising was "The Electronic Dick". Different times.

Re: Dick Smith (Entrepreneur)

#20

Post by jsmeaton »

Taniwha wrote: post #7
ravenstine wrote: post #3

Wow, I always kind of assumed Dick Smith was just a fictional mascot like Betty Crocker, but he was a real dude. I lived in New Zealand for a short while growing up and we used to refer to Dick Smith Electronics as "Dip-shit Electronics" because the prices could be pretty outrageous. It was otherwise a pretty cool store, though; think somewhere between Radio Shack and Best Buy.

Yeah Disk Smith came in to NZ and replaced a perfectly good electronics parts wholesaler with over priced retail crud

Are you talking about the Kogan-clone that took over the online store about 5 or 6 years ago, or prior to that? The online part of the business was sold off to Kogan and became another online store front.
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