Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mailrus!umix!umich!mibte!gamma!pyuxp!nvuxj!abeles
From: abeles@nvuxj.UUCP (J. H. Abeles)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Radio Shack
Message-ID: <305@nvuxj.UUCP>
Date: 12 Feb 88 14:13:40 GMT
References: <5431@burdvax.PRC.Unisys.COM> <6654@sol.ARPA> <832@astroatc.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: Bell Communications Research
Lines: 39
Summary: old days gone



I think it's a little unrealistic (no pun intended) to expect
Radio Shack personnel to be knowledgable about electronics.

First of all, if they were they could make more money as an engineer
than as a manager of a Radio Shack Store and have a more pleasant life.

Second, since the store is owned by a large corporation, there won't
be the knowledgable owner of long standing who really knows his stock.
Even in this case, I recall when I was a teenager always going into
various electronics stores to buy parts (I rarely got them to do much
of anything at home at that time and often despaired of ever understanding
how to get an electronic circuit to do anything useful).  Those guys
weren't exactly rocket scientists either.  As far as knowing Ohm's law
goes, maybe they did (I'm not sure).

I wonder whether the electronics hobbyist market hasn't changed substantially
over the years, though.  Obviously it's going to be difficult to build
anything at a buck for two resistors (is that about what they charge?).
And everything is in the IC's today--so you aren't going to be building
circuits like the hobbyist of 20 years ago, only wiring up IC's to
switches, etc. with a few other discrete components.

Radio Shack disgusts me too, since it probably drives out of business
the small individual places which would offer us more variety.  Instead
we're being forced to accept the stuff they spoon-feed us at their
exorbitant prices.  It's a lot like going to a mall for books and
looking through the limited and airheaded selection at B. Dalton
or Waldenbooks.

I don't really think Radio Shack makes much money off those parts
it does sell anyway.  Rather I suspect they're part of the Radio
Shack image.  People must be drawn to buy Radio Shack junk like
their computers and stereos and (ugh!) speakers because of the image
of electronics wizardry engendered by the parts selection they never
would understand.

--J. Abeles