Hello!
I went to the first (and then closest and easiest to get to) store on the list. That was the one in Manhattan. I have to admit it that I indulged in theater there, and eventually found them. They were hanging up in methods described. However they were hanging up in two places.
I pointed out to the manager who then looked at everything, that the packages of PING sensors should be in the same place. He commented that was the way it was setup. He also confirmed that other stuff "might" be arriving. (Of course I'm aware that it was a test in progress) He then described the whole process.
I kept suggesting to the clerk who attempted to assist me that he should visit http://www.parallax.com/RS not just the crappy company website. He did not. I suspect he didn't want to be confronted with the eventual impossibility of understanding the DIY ideas that the selection suggests.
I also showed the gentleman the extraction I made up of the stores in New York (State) and that he noted his store was there. I've not as yet tried any of the ones on Staten Island, or in Brooklyn, so its still anyone's game. Even though that link does indicate that the Memsic 2125 Dual-axis Accelerometer is supposed to be available via the usual methods, I found it in their drawer system suffering from a drastically inflated price. It should be sold at the same price that the link says it is.
I'm also in agreement with you about the Radio Shack clerks and all are not DIY knowledgeable.
That seems to depend on their age. The older guys are often semi-retired engineers/technicians -- or even ham ops -- who've been around the dance floor a few times and know their stuff. These are more often found in associate stores in out-of-the way locales. (My local RS store was started in the 70's by a retired Lockheed engineer.) The mall stores, OTOH, seem to hire minimum-wage, young salesmen types who lack an intimate connection to the technology. But that's a culture that may change along with the new product mix. It's not going to be an easy slog for RadioShack to change direction back to a DIY emphasis, but I'm rooting for them all the way! We really need a local presence to supply our needs and to inspire the next generation of DIYers.
I visited my local RS again today just to see what was new and maybe drum up a little interest in the QS board, had mine in my pocket rigged with a demo. Both employees greeted me before the front door closed and one asked me if there was anything they could help me find. Told them I was just looking to see what was new and they went back to what looked like receiving and shelving phone accessories. I was the only customer in the store. Quick check of the Parallax section, just the same two pings from last week for $29.95. I went around to the other side and checked the drawers, one more ping for $32.95. I mentioned this to the clerk and he informed me they were from different manufacturers. I told him, "No, see these both say parallax". He politely informed me that they have different part numbers and therefore were indeed from different manufactures. I then asked if he had seen a QS board yet. "No." I asked he would like to see one, and he replied "If we weren't so busy". I gave up and walked out. I would put both clerks in their early to mid 20's.
I visited my local RS again today just to see what was new and maybe drum up a little interest in the QS board, had mine in my pocket rigged with a demo. Both employees greeted me before the front door closed and one asked me if there was anything they could help me find. Told them I was just looking to see what was new and they went back to what looked like receiving and shelving phone accessories. I was the only customer in the store. Quick check of the Parallax section, just the same two pings from last week for $29.95. I went around to the other side and checked the drawers, one more ping for $32.95. I mentioned this to the clerk and he informed me they were from different manufacturers. I told him, "No, see these both say parallax". He politely informed me that they have different part numbers and therefore were indeed from different manufactures. I then asked if he had seen a QS board yet. "No." I asked he would like to see one, and he replied "If we weren't so busy". I gave up and walked out. I would put both clerks in their early to mid 20's.
Hello!
That's what happened with me. I chose that guy. (The part.) There was also a PING sensor in the bin. Along with the PIR one. I believe that the idea that it was same-old same-old idea regarding the chosen things is what confused the kid. I firmly believe that it was so obvious even someone who just discovered electronics that morning would notice it. Ideally RS is going to convince its clerical staff and managers of course, to believe their customers before believing their cataloging system.
Had a sad experience at a RS near the office. Went there for lunch and they had nothing from Parallax. The one or two items they used to carry are gone. :-(
Hello!
That's what happened with me. I chose that guy. (The part.) There was also a PING sensor in the bin. Along with the PIR one. I believe that the idea that it was same-old same-old idea regarding the chosen things is what confused the kid. I firmly believe that it was so obvious even someone who just discovered electronics that morning would notice it. Ideally RS is going to convince its clerical staff and managers of course, to believe their customers before believing their cataloging system.
Hello!
A follow up, I went back to the store, and selected the Gyroscope Module. The manager took that as an example, and used it to check the inventory for the SI based store I was leaning towards, and the inventory matches. Two per bin (or hanging thing).
According to the MTA to get to the SI store for me, it would be an all day trip, better off doing it earlier in the day, and later in the week. Anyway the experiment should be considered a success by our standards.
That seems to depend on their age. The older guys are often semi-retired engineers/technicians -- or even ham ops -- ... young salesmen types who lack ...
Possible Grey Supremist?
The shop I visited last week was manned by a 20 years old who has uC experience from the community college, and some personality. This is in contrast to the geezer that used to work the local store, that took delight in showing off a greater knowledge, to the point of belittling the customer. Age, gender, race, national origin, or language of origin do not matter. Its a Smile shoot until there is a job requirement stating "DIY project experience required".
Went to yet another RS and was happy to see that they had a selection of Parallax parts. It's a modest selection but I did pick up a PIR module though. :-)
A bad experience at RadioShack?.....WT$????
'
A real Hobbyist knows what they want before they ever enter the store and usually has the R.S. part#'s to boot!,..price.etc.
'
They also do their homework and know what store has what they want!
'
If you need the sales staff at RadioShack you should look for a different hobby like rock collecting or maybe postage stamps !!!!
A bad experience at RadioShack?.....WT$????
'
A real Hobbyist knows what they want before they ever enter the store and usually has the R.S. part#'s to boot!,..price.etc.
'
They also do their homework and know what store has what they want!
'
If you need the sales staff at RadioShack you should look for a different hobby like rock collecting or maybe postage stamps !!!!
Then where is the source and exposure of that knowledge? I learned about uCs by walking into Fry's and seeing the BOE-BOT kit. If the only people who should buy electronics are those who are already in the club, then we might as well consider ourselves elitist.
I was on the Popular Mechanics site and saw a Radio shack ad advertising "We now carry the Arduino!". Hey, you can't blame them for going were the market is. The Arduino is the "common man's microcontroller", where as the Propeller is more of the "engineers microcontroller".
SRLM
'
Point taken...
'
I was referring to us Parallax members, as the general public would not see my post since their not a forum member.
'
I see your point on the sales staff pointing someone new in the rite direction when starting out in this hobby at RadioShack.
'
The only way I can see this happen is for us forum members to educate the sales staff at our local RadioShack's
'
Show and tell works the best.
'
The BOE is a perfect example to demo the Parallax line-up thats on the peg board at your participating RadioShack
Then where is the source and exposure of that knowledge? I learned about uCs by walking into Fry's and seeing the BOE-BOT kit. If the only people who should buy electronics are those who are already in the club, then we might as well consider ourselves elitist.
While I'm sure there's a few sales people at RS that have a clue. I have never come across one!
While I'm sure there's a few sales people at RS that have a clue. I have never come across one!
Agreed. I found one today in a College Park, MD store next to the University of Maryland campus who had some cue what I was looking for after an search on his computer. The good thing is they had what I was looking for and that was 2x16 LCD display and it's only a 10 min drive away from my home. They also had the X-Bee kit for sale as well.
I finally managed to get to the Colonial Heights radio shack, and after explaining what I was looking for to one of the employees, he went around the store, and examined most of the shelves before deciding they didn't have any Parallax products in stock. They had a delli man board which (from his description) appeared to be similar to the basic stamp, but I'm not sure. I did find me a very large prototyping board, which I picked up. Then we started wandering around the store, and my wife located the Parallax display. It had two of all the products they carried, which included things like the gps module (which I bought one of them), the basic stamp, pir kit, and one or two other items. No quickstart boards though (was hoping they had those, though I'd already ordered another one from Parallax yesterday with the fm radio kit). After the employee saw the display, he was very interested, and I talked up the products as much as I could, so hopefully he'll point them out to others as they show up.
I'll definitely be going back to talk to other rs folks, and hopefully purchase additional parts as funds permit.
Except, from what I've seen online, the arduino costs more than the parallax stuff, so some of them might just try the parallax boards anyhow, just because it costs less. (one can hope anyway).
Just got back from the Troy Commons store in Troy Mich.
They have a lot move of the Parallax items in stock now.
In talking to the sales people they say sales have been very good.
On a down side they also said the stuff Parallax and Arduino have been
growing legs on their own and disappeaing. So they have had to lock down
things and in some cases only have empty boxes on display and you get the
item at the counter.
The Ping))) and PIR are coming out of the drawers for the party, but the Memsic2125 will stay in the drawers with some other items I forget to mention: joysticks, servos, and 5-position switches.
I don't see the Memsic 2125 listed on the RadioShack website anymore. Did they discontinue stocking it?
I just got back from my local RS associate store. They had two, but they were forty bucks each! Soooo ... I decided to unsolder the one I already have.
Comments
Yes,
$29.99 seems more appropriate for that product:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12310183
I guess Parallax will be getting more orders from their store.
Ken Gracey
Hello!
I went to the first (and then closest and easiest to get to) store on the list. That was the one in Manhattan. I have to admit it that I indulged in theater there, and eventually found them. They were hanging up in methods described. However they were hanging up in two places.
I pointed out to the manager who then looked at everything, that the packages of PING sensors should be in the same place. He commented that was the way it was setup. He also confirmed that other stuff "might" be arriving. (Of course I'm aware that it was a test in progress) He then described the whole process.
I kept suggesting to the clerk who attempted to assist me that he should visit http://www.parallax.com/RS not just the crappy company website. He did not. I suspect he didn't want to be confronted with the eventual impossibility of understanding the DIY ideas that the selection suggests.
I also showed the gentleman the extraction I made up of the stores in New York (State) and that he noted his store was there. I've not as yet tried any of the ones on Staten Island, or in Brooklyn, so its still anyone's game. Even though that link does indicate that the Memsic 2125 Dual-axis Accelerometer is supposed to be available via the usual methods, I found it in their drawer system suffering from a drastically inflated price. It should be sold at the same price that the link says it is.
I'm also in agreement with you about the Radio Shack clerks and all are not DIY knowledgeable.
-Phil
Hello!
That's what happened with me. I chose that guy. (The part.) There was also a PING sensor in the bin. Along with the PIR one. I believe that the idea that it was same-old same-old idea regarding the chosen things is what confused the kid. I firmly believe that it was so obvious even someone who just discovered electronics that morning would notice it. Ideally RS is going to convince its clerical staff and managers of course, to believe their customers before believing their cataloging system.
Ken,
I forgot about all the effort and expense for packaging. Need to recoup something.
And the spell check on Gyrocope?
Jim
Fixed, apparently: http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?135801-Loot-from-recent-Radio-Shack-rollout&p=1050890#post1050890
Hello!
A follow up, I went back to the store, and selected the Gyroscope Module. The manager took that as an example, and used it to check the inventory for the SI based store I was leaning towards, and the inventory matches. Two per bin (or hanging thing).
According to the MTA to get to the SI store for me, it would be an all day trip, better off doing it earlier in the day, and later in the week. Anyway the experiment should be considered a success by our standards.
Possible Grey Supremist?
The shop I visited last week was manned by a 20 years old who has uC experience from the community college, and some personality. This is in contrast to the geezer that used to work the local store, that took delight in showing off a greater knowledge, to the point of belittling the customer. Age, gender, race, national origin, or language of origin do not matter. Its a Smile shoot until there is a job requirement stating "DIY project experience required".
FYI. It seems by the email I got RS is really pushing the Arduino. They have a contest for it. http://blog.radioshack.com/?p=1858
'
A real Hobbyist knows what they want before they ever enter the store and usually has the R.S. part#'s to boot!,..price.etc.
'
They also do their homework and know what store has what they want!
'
If you need the sales staff at RadioShack you should look for a different hobby like rock collecting or maybe postage stamps !!!!
Then where is the source and exposure of that knowledge? I learned about uCs by walking into Fry's and seeing the BOE-BOT kit. If the only people who should buy electronics are those who are already in the club, then we might as well consider ourselves elitist.
'
Point taken...
'
I was referring to us Parallax members, as the general public would not see my post since their not a forum member.
'
I see your point on the sales staff pointing someone new in the rite direction when starting out in this hobby at RadioShack.
'
The only way I can see this happen is for us forum members to educate the sales staff at our local RadioShack's
'
Show and tell works the best.
'
The BOE is a perfect example to demo the Parallax line-up thats on the peg board at your participating RadioShack
While I'm sure there's a few sales people at RS that have a clue. I have never come across one!
I'll definitely be going back to talk to other rs folks, and hopefully purchase additional parts as funds permit.
When the RadioShack corporate people visit us in Rocklin in two weeks we shall be glad to show them this thread.
Ken Gracey
They have a lot move of the Parallax items in stock now.
In talking to the sales people they say sales have been very good.
On a down side they also said the stuff Parallax and Arduino have been
growing legs on their own and disappeaing. So they have had to lock down
things and in some cases only have empty boxes on display and you get the
item at the counter.
Tom
-Phil
Maybe because Parallax is out til 01/20/2012?
Maybe they don't like to take backorders.
Paul
-Phil
Paul
-Phil