RadioShack could make a comeback if the Heathkit resurgence ever comes to fruition: http://www.heathkit.com/ They should partner with them!
Not going to happen. https://www.adafruit.com/blog/2014/12/22/update-heathkit-has...
RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing
41–50 of 230 posts
Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing
#42Why couldn't they just stay a hobbyist store instead of schlepping cell phones? This stuff is cyclical and we're on the up-cycle now as they are going bankrupt. Instead of having their employees push plans they could have had them grow and share their knowledge of electronics. Sad, this place was near and dear to me for a bit.
A couple years ago I needed a capacitor right now and bopped down to the local RS. The components were located in a the back of the store, in a bin they obviously were not proud of having. I found my part and went to the register. The clerk just waved me off and told me to take the capacitor and leave. He wasn't interested in ringing it up. Radio Shack is full of rot, from the top to the bottom, and I am surprised th…
I don't know how much this is true recently, but RS used to be full of microoptimizing incentives which would encourage this kind of behavior, such as incentives tied to average sales size or percent of sales that included particular categories of items that the company wanted to move.
So, I can see why a small ticket sale that would bring down those kind of metrics for an associate would be against that associate's rational self interest, while letting someone walk out of the store with a capacitor -- even though it might make store metrics look worse after the next inventory, and certainly isn't better for the corporation -- would be considered less harmful.
Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing
#43I'm amazed they lasted this long. There's a Radio Shack two doors down from my office. I go in about 5x/year to buy batteries, USB cables or such stuff. Each time there's a new manager. Or a new clerk. Some are polite; some don't bother -- but nobody has a clue. The stores seem totally dependent on weird promotions (buy 16 batteries; get 8 free) or copycat cell-phone deals in an era where there's always a specialized…
A new RadioShack store JUST opened around the corner from me a few weeks ago. I assume it was a short term holiday season thing.
Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing
#44Why couldn't they just stay a hobbyist store instead of schlepping cell phones? This stuff is cyclical and we're on the up-cycle now as they are going bankrupt. Instead of having their employees push plans they could have had them grow and share their knowledge of electronics. Sad, this place was near and dear to me for a bit.
Cell phones were huge for them. I worked at a radio shack store in the mid-90s when they started stocking car phones (big, bulky items) and very shortly after that hand-held phones. We used to sell them like hot cakes. As a high school student, I made pretty good money selling pagers, phones and computers. Compared to these items, resistors and batteries were no match.
Right, but that business is dead now. It belongs to mall-kiosks and strip-mall storefronts.
Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing
#45Apologies about the link to a restricted site. I didn't notice it since I landed on the article via a search. Out of curiosity, since several comments here complained about the paywall ("paywalls are nsfl"), and an equal number or more on HN run adblockers and/or openly dislike ads in general (the whole "you are the product" meme), how do you think news sites should monetize? Seems like newspapers still add value in…
People who use adblock are just entitled. They are manipulating the tragedy of the commons and then absolving themselves of any responsibility.
They'll defend their right to use adblock militantly and then go pirate a game using the same defense. It's a personal moral defense rather than a logical justification.
Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because what you're talking about is a much, much smaller business.
Adafruit, Sparkfun, et al, might like a word with you. Even though they are smaller businesses, they are thriving, there is nothing to say that they would be if RS had taken the same road.
It doesn't matter that they are successful though, they operate on a much, much smaller scale than Radioshack. The maker market isn't nearly large enough to sustain a company of that size... that is to say, if Radioshack shrank to the size of one of Adafruit, it be a colossal failure as a corporation.
The only chance they had to stay relevant was to challenge the Best Buy's of the world, but they failed to do that.
Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because what you're talking about is a much, much smaller business.
Adafruit, Sparkfun, et al, might like a word with you. Even though they are smaller businesses, they are thriving, there is nothing to say that they would be if RS had taken the same road.
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Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing
#48Apologies about the link to a restricted site. I didn't notice it since I landed on the article via a search. Out of curiosity, since several comments here complained about the paywall ("paywalls are nsfl"), and an equal number or more on HN run adblockers and/or openly dislike ads in general (the whole "you are the product" meme), how do you think news sites should monetize? Seems like newspapers still add value in…
> Out of curiosity, since several comments here complained about the paywall ("paywalls are nsfl"), and an equal number or more on HN run adblockers and/or openly dislike ads in general (the whole "you are the product" meme), how do you think newspapers should monetize? I adblock aggressively, and I don't think it's my capitalist duty to watch ads for products in order to create wants for products I don't need.[1] I'…
It is interesting to interpret not using adblock as capitalist duty. I see it more as a way to respect the terms of the content producer. "But the page is bloated and unusable with ads". Then refuse the contract. Use another service.
Inventing your own terms about the cost of something produced by someone else is never ok.
"guilting me into watching ads will never work". It is great that you accept your own behavior. That doesn't make it right.
Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing
#49A lot of people think RadioShack should have made the transition to internet sales, but I think that they actually started failing earlier, when they expanded into a non-technical market. In the 80s and 90s I could go into a Radio Shack and buy resistors, fuses, soldering equipment, breadboards, various controllers and sensors, hard drives, processors: everything I needed to assemble an electronics project, fix a com…
A lot of people think RadioShack should have made the transition to internet sales Huh? Like http://www.radioshack.com/
Pretty sure parent was implying they should close down their massive brick-and-mortar retail presence.
Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing
#50Apologies about the link to a restricted site. I didn't notice it since I landed on the article via a search. Out of curiosity, since several comments here complained about the paywall ("paywalls are nsfl"), and an equal number or more on HN run adblockers and/or openly dislike ads in general (the whole "you are the product" meme), how do you think news sites should monetize? Seems like newspapers still add value in…
I think there is a distinction to be made here. Paywalls are fine. If you feel that the Wall Street Journal is worth your time and money then feel free to subscribe to it. But paywalls are a double edged sword. If the source requires people to subscribe to read it, then the vast majority of internet users wont have a chance to read it, and learns to avoid the site. When you share a link in public forum and the link r…
Remember TimesSelect? [1]
Search Engine Land has an excellent write-up on the debate so far.[2]
There are no clear answers but I for one just hate the notion of a single individual businessman - American or otherwise - owning a sizable interest in America's preeminent newspaper.[3] It isn't healthy to the voice of the publication, in the long run.
[1] TimesSelect
http://www.nytimes.com/marketing/ts/ http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/lettertoreaders.html
[2] The Leaky New York Times Paywall & How “Google Limits” Led To “Search Engine Limits”
http://searchengineland.com/leaky-new-york-times-paywall-goo...
[3] Carlos Slim Becomes Largest Individual New York Times Shareholder
http://www.wsj.com/articles/carlos-slim-exercises-new-york-t...