[Coco] Radio Shack looking back to their roots?

[Juan Castro]

You know what would really throw me off the deep end? If they did a
revival, even a limited one, similar to what the Ozzies (PING Mark
McDougall) did with the MicroBee:

http://www.microbeetechnology.com.au/premiumpluskit.htm

BOISY! U haz Connections. What about you float that idea with your friends
there? Have them test the waters, gauge interest?

Juan

On Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 11:18 AM, Louis Ciotti <lciotti1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I wouldbe nice to see radio shack go back to its roots, but there just are
> not enough hobbyist to buy enough units to keep sales high enough.  My
> local radio shack has some items, but most of the time I turn to the
> internet.
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 7:45 AM, Allen Huffman <alsplace at pobox.com> wrote:
>
> > On Nov 11, 2012, at 9:05 AM, Frank Swygert <farna at amc-mag.com> wrote:
> >
> > > I've been a fan of Instructables for a while now -- mainly just
> looking,
> > but finding a few rather useful. I noticed Radio Shack sponsoring a
> contest
> > on the site and advertising -- I wonder if they are looking at getting
> back
> > to their roots a bit with kits and parts???
> > > http://www.instructables.com/id/A-DVD-Player-Hack/
> > > (click on "The Great Create" on the right as well).
> >
> > There does seem to be someone within Tandy that is interested in
> promoting
> > this. In October, I was able to go to a local RadioShack in Marshalltown,
> > Iowa (smallish town about an hour away from Des Moines) and pick up an
> > Arduino computer and various add ons and parts. I was trying to find
> > something that could serve as an interface between pressure mats (in a
> > Haunted house attraction) and a netbook computer that ran the control
> > software. The Arduino did the trick, and over the next week or so, I
> > visited various RadioShacks to pick up all kinds of parts -- connectors,
> > prototype boxes, Arduino interface cards, etc.
> >
> > I found that one RadioShack nearby (next town over, 10 miles from Des
> > Moines) stocked all kinds of stuff not found in any of the others --
> servo
> > motors, joystick type inputs, wiring packs, etc. They said they just had
> > enough folks buying the stuff to really stock up. I hadn't seen so much
> in
> > a RadioShack in years -- and they were not being supported by a local
> > college with an electronics class or anything. Just folks coming in and
> > buying stuff. They did seem concerned that RadioShack was going to
> downsize
> > all this stuff again.
> >
> > While an Arduino isn't a full featured computer like the old 8-bits were,
> > it was still a great hobbyist platform for specific projects and one
> > available (for $35) at the local RadShack. Take a look at that section
> next
> > time you go to one -- I found wireless modules, motion sensors, motor
> > controllers as well as many types of build-it kits and "MakerShed"
> project
> > books. They may not have the vast assortment of parts (but still quite a
> > selection) as the 70s/80s, but they have a ton more stuff we could only
> > dream of finding local back then.
> >
> > It's alive, which is surprising in this day of "free 2nd day shipping"
> > Amazon. For the Haunted House project, I was trying to buy as much as
> > possible locally, so if something went out, I could get an instant local
> > replacement without having to wait even two days for a new shipment. The
> > folks I was hired to do this build for probably appreciated that,
> > considering the numerous technical problems I ran in to that sent me
> > scrambling for more parts.
> >
> > It was a real eye opener finding out all the stuff RadioShack has started
> > stocking in the recent years.
> > -
> > Allen Huffman - PO Box 22031 - Clive IA 50325 - 515-999-0227 (vmail/TXT
> > only)
> > Sent from my MacBook.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Coco mailing list
> > Coco at maltedmedia.com
> > http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> >
>
> --
> Coco mailing list
> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>