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No More Digi-key Catalog in Print — Parallax Forums

No More Digi-key Catalog in Print

wasswass Posts: 151
edited 2011-04-12 17:16 in General Discussion
http://dkc1.digikey.com/us/en/mkt/Press/Totally_Integrated.html?WT.z_sm_link=Twitter_integratedpr_0325

While it's certainly easier to look for a specific part on-line I often come across items that I didn't know exist while browsing the catalog. I'm going to miss this massive catalog and no doubt Mouser's pretty soon.

-Katie

Comments

  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2011-04-10 19:43
    Mailing that catalog must have been a very expensive, time-consuming venture.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2011-04-10 19:43
    Who can blame them? Their latest printed catalog is 2896 pages long. That's got to be an expensive proposition to print and distribute! I'm sure that Mouser (2294 pages) will soon follow DigiKey's lead.

    -Phil
  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2011-04-10 19:51
    Maybe if they'd started charging for it a few years ago, it might've worked out. I think the rate of return (catalogs distrib'd vs sales gen'd) must've been very bad.

    [Any idea how much universities pocket in "application fees" every year? $50-$100 per, vs <10% acceptance rates. Ouch. Catalogs in reverse.]
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2011-04-10 19:59
    Those catalogs were great for paper mache, though.

    Halloween will never be the same without them. :-(
  • Beau SchwabeBeau Schwabe Posts: 6,568
    edited 2011-04-10 20:32
    I'm actually glad ... I get two of the darn things, because I had to enter my name differently in the form (The way it appeared on my credit card was slightly different on an older card I had that expired.)
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2011-04-10 21:21
    I agree with Katie, sometimes I'd find something in the printed catalog I didn't know the name of and had no way of searching for it on-line.

    They sure to take up a lot of room though. I'm not too sad to see them go but I think I'll hang on to one of my old ones to look through once in a while.

    @PJ Allen, If Digi-Key had charged for the catalog, I'd have never purchased one. I know I purchased items I found in the catalog that I wouldn't have otherwise but I'm not sure if I made enough of these types of purchases to cover the cost of printing and mailing the catalogs I received from them.

    I was often surprised at how frequently they were mailed. I have at least one on my shelf with the plastic wrap still on it.
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2011-04-10 21:59
    I probably bought a small purchase from Mouser and I received this big catalog in the mail. The same thing happened with Digikey. If you don't spend more than $100.00 in purchases then I don't really see it as their priority to send the catalog but they do it anyway.

    I don't have room for them in my house. I like reading something on the printed page but there were still parts I couldn't find that they don't stock. I put about three catalogs in the recycling because it is faster for me to search their catalog on the internet. I even emailed Mouser to tell them that I stuck their catalog in the recycling.

    It would be more efficient for them to know their audience. Most people in the hobby market don't buy everything they stock. It would have been cheaper for them to have smaller catalogs for the hobby market. I don't want to manually search through parts I'm never going to use and when I look at more than half the parts in their catalog, I don't know the difference or even know what they are for.

    Cataloging my own parts are a challenge as I have to remember not to throw away the packing slips so I don't get confused. I'd rather go online, log in, see my profile and a list of common parts I've purchased so it would be easier for me to order them again.
  • ctwardellctwardell Posts: 1,716
    edited 2011-04-11 06:59
    I really like the Digi-Key Techzone magazines. If I had to choose between those and keeping the catalog I would choose the Techzone.

    I remember when I first started purchasing from Digi-Key back in the early 80's, the catalog was maybe 100 pages or so, they have done well.

    C.W.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2011-04-11 07:27
    IMO, DigiKey deserves every ounce of their success. At a time when the "mainline" distributors (Almac, Arrow, Hamilton-Avnet) were consolidating, upping their minimums, and snubbing small customers, DigiKey was providing excellent service to all comers, large and small. Their prices were a bit on the high side, but even that has changed, and now they're more than competitive. Not only that, they have no minimum purchase and ship the same day -- even on orders that don't get there until 8PM CST.

    Mouser is not far behind them, either, for excellent service. Although they're not always able to get an order out the same day if it's placed late in the afternoon, on more than one occasion they've sent my order out the next day by expedited shipping and have eaten the difference in cost.

    -Phil
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,260
    edited 2011-04-11 08:26
    Less paper=more plywood robots. WOO-HOO!
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2011-04-11 20:40
    While I do really enjoy relaxing for a couple of hours with a good printed book I have to agree with Beau and Erco on this one. Not only do I think printing a 2000+ page catalogue counter to preserving the environment, I find on line searching and purchasing of parts far easier and more productive.

    For those who want to browse through an entire catalogue I would hope that suppliers would offer a PDF version of their catalogue for download. Since the data is already stored on a computer that should be trivial. I would certainly download it for those occasions when the internet is not available.
  • Peter KG6LSEPeter KG6LSE Posts: 1,383
    edited 2011-04-11 22:25
    Kwinn I have somewhere there cataloge form 07 in PDF . but its 50 megs . .

    still I want a hard copy for night time reading .
  • schillschill Posts: 741
    edited 2011-04-12 05:31
    I'm ok with them discontinuing the print catalog, but a PDF just isn't the same for browsing. It's very hard to flip through a PDF and have something catch your eye the way you can with the printed catalog.

    Digikey PDF: http://dkc1.digikey.com/US/EN/PDF/US2011/Complete.html
    And Mouser for completeness: http://www.mouser.com/CatalogRequest/Catalog.aspx
    OK, Jameco for good measure: ftp://ftp.jameco.com/Archive/Catalog%20111/111Catalog.pdf (direct link to PDF)
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2011-04-12 06:28
    Does anybody have a Whole Earth Catalog handy?
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2011-04-12 07:36
    Mouser still puts out a chubby catalog. 2294 pages in the newest...
    Don't drop it on your foot!
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2011-04-12 17:16
    Peter, schill, I get most of my reading material in either PDF or HTML format for use on my laptop, and am happy with that. I do agree that for some things such as relaxing on the patio or in bed nothing beats paper. I had high hopes for e-ink and e-paper, particularly with color, but it seems to be slow in coming. Much like the flat screen tv that had been coming for 40+ years before finally arriving.
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