15 Dec
2008
15 Dec
'08
1:48 p.m.
Dave McGuire wrote:
To be fair...Radio Shack did indeed descend into the
murky depths of
being an overcommercialized cell phone and cheap stereo equipment
pusher, but just recently, over the past two years or so, they've
started to come back.
In that time, the electronic parts inventories of my two local RS
stores has more than doubled. They've inked some sort of an agreement
with Parallax, Inc. and are now selling their stuff, including Basic
Stamps and various sensors and robotics goodies. Not all stores stock
all of this stuff, but I've seen bits and pieces of it at several of them.
Hmm, I went into the local one a little while back looking for something or
other...
1) Anything remotely interesting is stashed behind acres of gimmicky plastic
crap electrical goods,
2) There seemed to be a huge markup for 'convenience',
3) Fifteen sales assistants tried to pounce on me the moment I entered the store,
4) The shop was in a mall, and basically a box with one side missing - the
noise level made it utterly impossible to have any kind of conversation
without shouting.
Now, I can understand the first two in a business context - and I actually
don't mind paying over the odds for a nice environment and good service. But
given that RS seem to offer neither, there's little point in using them for
something I can get elsewhere anyway.
(Now Digikey are only about an hours' drive from me - maybe I should suggest
that they open a store here :-)
cheers
Jules