Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 230 posts

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#91

Post by superuser2 »

fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #37
wdewind wrote: post #24

Earlier 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.

I would be curious to see what portion of Adafruit and Sparkfun customers are not located in Silicon Valley. Probably very low. A retail location might be sustainable there, but doubtful in exurbs of third-rate flyover states (where until recently, RadioShacks were still pretty easy to find.) Nerds are present but with very low density in large swaths of the country.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#92

Post by sbergot »

criley2 wrote: post #69
sbergot wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

It's offensive for you to place your opinion in the context of "right and wrong", specifically that your opinion is "right". If content owners want to block adblocker: They can! They absolutely can use javascript to detect ad-blockers and prevent the majority of all of them from visiting the site unless the adblock is disabled. Sites like Hulu.com use anti-adblock to ensure that their terms are met and that users vie…

I agree with about when you say that businesses should not ignore the fact that adblock is wildy used when making decisions.

Imagine now that if a working drm solution existed for films, it would be ok to download the unprotected ones for free? Surely a technical solution is way of making a business profitable, but not an argument to justify a bad behavior.

And yes, even if moral is irrelevant to businesses, it is still something worth considering as individuals.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#94

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

superuser2 wrote: post #91
fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I would be curious to see what portion of Adafruit and Sparkfun customers are not located in Silicon Valley. Probably very low. A retail location might be sustainable there, but doubtful in exurbs of third-rate flyover states (where until recently, RadioShacks were still pretty easy to find.) Nerds are present but with very low density in large swaths of the country.

I think the proportion is high. I know that a couple dozen students in my rural southern town will need electronics supplies in the next few weeks as they do at the beginning of each semester.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#95

Post by sbergot »

jordigh wrote: post #61
sbergot wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

> 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. The author has no lordship over my computer or my mailbox. I can toss out junk mail. I can even more easily program my computer to toss out ads. Programmability is a very natural feature of a computer, so why not use it? My home, my computer, my rules. If you make it more difficu…

Be sure that this arm race is happening. How do you find the overall quality of web media today? Are you satisfied?

As a business, once you realize that 1% of your users are watching ads, what are you going to do? You can either go for a paywall, integrate sponsored content provided as articles, or aim at the less tech savy internet users with click-bait articles.

So what is your solution? You seem satisfied with the current trend of poor quality articles and businesses slowly going bankrupt while this "uneasy armistice" lasts. Why would you be at war with those websites anyway?

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#96

Post by Goronmon »

jordigh wrote: post #61
sbergot wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

> 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. The author has no lordship over my computer or my mailbox. I can toss out junk mail. I can even more easily program my computer to toss out ads. Programmability is a very natural feature of a computer, so why not use it? My home, my computer, my rules. If you make it more difficu…

The author has no lordship over my computer or my mailbox. I can toss out junk mail. I can even more easily program my computer to toss out ads. Programmability is a very natural feature of a computer, so why not use it? My home, my computer, my rules.

This reasoning falls apart pretty quickly when you take into account that you are adblocking content you specifically requested. Effectively, your justifications are the same as those who pirate media, "Give me your content, but I don't feel I should have to pay for it." Pretending there is a difference is a bit dishonest, in my opinion.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#97

Post by boydjd »

bluedino wrote: post #19
smackfu wrote: post #11

What happens to the franchise stores when the parent company goes bankrupt?

Not sure in their case. But the Sbarro's around here all turned into generic pizza places, as far as I can tell everything tastes about the same.

Huh? Sbarro's still exists...

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#98

Post by whistlerbrk »

dragonwriter wrote: post #66
themoonbus wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> The only chance they had to stay relevant was to challenge the Best Buy's of the world, but they failed to do that. They tried -- back when what is now RadioShack was Tandy Corp. and Radio Shack was one of its units, it tried with the Incredible Universe stores -- but gave up because at the time their boutique Radio Shack stores were more profitable than their big-box Incredible Universe stores. Of course, for wide…

The long term resilience is key here -- but I think an education model helps. If you have knowledgeable employees who can help you, you turn a person who has no idea where to get started and won't into a consumer. We still go to brick and mortar places for help and advice, so provide it.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#99

Post by res0nat0r »

jordigh wrote: post #61
sbergot wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

> 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. The author has no lordship over my computer or my mailbox. I can toss out junk mail. I can even more easily program my computer to toss out ads. Programmability is a very natural feature of a computer, so why not use it? My home, my computer, my rules. If you make it more difficu…

I understand this thinking, but everyone who believes they should be able to get their content for free without ads will soon find themselves out of sites to visit due to them not being able to sustain themselves.

I'm not sure why people think they should be able to get no-ad sites for free, I get it, but you should understand the repercussions of thinking this way.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#100

Post by joeyh »

Good riddance. May whatever small void it leaves be filled by a diversity of mom-and-pop electronics stores. There's one such store in my area that seems to do well enough catering to the professional/hobby markets, with a couple locations, and has been around for decades. (Oddly it also has free popcorn.)
Post reply on HN