So I was at the local radio crap and can't believe how much they embraced the Arduino! I wonder is this cause its open source and they can make them themselves? But 2 whole racks of nothing but Arduino's and sheilds. Bluetooth sheilds, wifi, networking, everything. I was amazed at the selection. Nothing from pic or lpc, but tons and tons of arduino and make stuff. Worth checking out if your their.
Radio Crap
- Thread starter maxpower097
- Start date
There was a post here maybe a year ago about radioshack's consumer feedback. Radioshack has a blog, and they polled their customers about "what can we do to improve?". There was an overwhelming reply of people complaining about how radioshack is nothing but a best buy with less selection. The customers wanted more hobby electronics. The people also specifically requested Arduino over, and over, and over. They gave the customers what they asked for. I applaud them for that. I'd rather see a shelf full of Arduinos than a shelf full of Iphones. Maybe now that they listen to their customers, people should start asking for PICs. Go to their website and b*tch about it, heck maybe I will too. I probably would have bought one by now if they were for sale in Radioshack.
"Radio Crap" is a moniker for "Radio Shack".
I can never figure out how RS stayed in business all these years. The stuff they sell can be purchased in big one-stop electronic stores, or ordered online, and for less. They have a few speciality items, but not big sellers. I find it perplexing, but I haven't been a RS shopper for about 25 years now.
I can answer that one, convenience and instant gratification.
Convenience in that the items are right in front of you, no research needed. Not everyone has a clue what is out there, or how to get it. A few don't even have internet, though I have no idea what the numbers are.
When I first started writing for the AAC book I tried to use Radio Shack, with limited success. It is a PITA.
The other side is no waiting, you buy your items, take them home, and start building. This is probably a much bigger deal overall for people who want to play with the electronics.
The number of stores that have this kind of stuff are hard to find, unless you live in a city. The small town I grew up in it was Radio Shack and Trice's Electronics (and Trice's was geared to repair shops), both in the "big" city of McAlester (it isn't).
If Radio Shack was consistent they could have a niche forever. Like Circuit City, the accountants keep gaining control, and they have no clue.
Convenience in that the items are right in front of you, no research needed. Not everyone has a clue what is out there, or how to get it. A few don't even have internet, though I have no idea what the numbers are.
When I first started writing for the AAC book I tried to use Radio Shack, with limited success. It is a PITA.
The other side is no waiting, you buy your items, take them home, and start building. This is probably a much bigger deal overall for people who want to play with the electronics.
The number of stores that have this kind of stuff are hard to find, unless you live in a city. The small town I grew up in it was Radio Shack and Trice's Electronics (and Trice's was geared to repair shops), both in the "big" city of McAlester (it isn't).
If Radio Shack was consistent they could have a niche forever. Like Circuit City, the accountants keep gaining control, and they have no clue.
Problem is, phone outlets are a dime a dozen. A high markup store like Radio Shack can not compeat. The only advantage they had (note the past tense) is a specialty market no one else wanted.
In phones they are trying to be a middle man in a market already overflowing with middle men.
In phones they are trying to be a middle man in a market already overflowing with middle men.
It comes down to revenue. I've never been in a RS and seen alot of sales being rung up. I've never seen much come from the hobby stuff they have. I've seen alot of hobby stores that have much better stock, prices and convenience go out of business. I've seen alot of commodity electronic stores that have a much better stock, prices and convenience go out of business. Somehow, RS hangs in there, though it doesn't make any real sense to me.
I think it would be successful continuing to carry the arduino stuff and basic stamp. I'd like to see more microcontollers in DIP format for this breadboards. Some pics, ATMELS. Basic stuff like pin headers. Then someone what actually knows this stuff. Pay em $20 an hour to a hobbiest to tech locals the basics. You know walking thru the door you know more then they do. That should be the other way around even if you pay for it. Have project nights and fund electronics clubs. Etc....... If they followed that track I think they would be successfull. And carry a full line of that lego mind storms, that looks like great entry hobby level stuff.
I work part time for a small industrial service company. They have a TRS-80 Model 4P. I designed two interfaces for it that tie to the External I/O bus One simulate many functions of the old STD bus. The other interface to allows functional testing of a circuit boards with a proprietary bus structure from Sweden. Full control of the TRS-80 I/O bus through simple BASIC commands gives a lot of flexibility.
