Sad news indeed. While the Shack had much higher prices on stuff, I could get a lot of things immediately if I needed them. Also - while out on tech support calls for my installations, if I needed something like a random capacitor, I could just grab one at the local RS without having to carry a box of everything everywhere I went.
If this news is true, the Shack is doomed. EVERY Radio Shack manager I know (and I know several) has said that the focus on cell phones is killing them because the market is flat. Everyone already has a phone, but they are being directed by Ft. Worth to sell a phone to everyone that walks in their doors. And Ft. Worth isn't listening to feedback from their managers on this issue, and managers are afraid to speak up - the pressure is apparently intense. One of the RS stores near the UMASS Campus closed last year because they couldn't meet cell sales quotas - but the students in the EE fields in the local colleges (5 of them in total with UMASS, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire and Amherst College all within a few miles of them) were buying PARTS for their labs and projects.
Now those students have to go all the way to the mall RS, about 30 minutes away... or order online and wait.
I also remember that it was RS that got me able to start building things in electronics back in the 1960s. There's no stores around anymore - other than RS for the moment, where kids can go and look at something and buy it just because they're curious.
And, it must be said, that it was because RS had "What's a Microcontroller" hanging right there at eye level for me to see every time I walked in, that I became aware of it's existence, and eventually bought it - which aside from greatly enhancing my own experience (and wallet), has also resulted in literally tens-of-thousands of dollars of other electronics purchases from RS, Parallax, Mouser, Digikey, Jameco and others, and has also made my local Ace Hardware store see an inexplicably large and unexpected rise in their small hardware sales :-)
If it's really true that RS is going the full-boat cell phone way, whoever made that decision can put on their resume in the future, "Led and oversaw the complete failure of a major, formerly successful, electronics retail chain".
I do see what you said as true yes even after my school and afterwards the shack helped me go on with projects...
The government encourages failure like this ...small businesses especially fall to the likes of invasive species as WALMART which has no natural predators...
It's only fair; you started that thread, and it's Christmas!
LOL...she and her friends already have their robot. ;<)
But as has been discussed earlier...robots are too expensive and society is poorer because of it.
It reminds me of CPU/microcontroller manufacturers whining about no one is using their product while overcharging for their development kits.
History shows us that designers use what they know...and the IBM PC designers of decades ago used Intel instead of Motorola because Intel gave out free samples while Motorola charged high prices for samples...consider what that ended up costing Motorola.
Companies always forget that the students of today are the designers of tomorrow.
"A major Problem for RS is the education of store managers who will have to answer questions from customers on the TRS-80. The managers of the first 100 stores to receive the computer were flown to Fort Worth for a special training session..." <- that's from 1978 . The TRS-80 was being ordered through a $100 deposit... and you waited 30 days for it...
ebay always hides the buyers name. This is to prevent spam being sent to the buyer for more offers. This has been in place for a couple of years.
The buyers name is available to the seller.
I have used Ebay almost from the beginning.
Ebay never hid the buyer's name until the last few years.
They say it is for spam control...as a buyer I know otherwise.
They do it to prevent deals that would not benefit Ebay...not the buyers.
Ebay has its place..but considering that I used to spend thousands on Ebay and now only spend hundreds, it tells me that the real buys are in the past.
Well, my offer still stands. If anyone finds an extra PanaVise Model 301 for $16 or less (the last clearance price I saw) I am interested.
FWIW..you need to check Ebay/Craigslist...Panavise is industry standard and has been for decades...there is many Panavises on the surplus market, swap meets, etc.
By the time you include shipping, you will be at a breakeven point at ~$30 for the vise.
FWIW...I am aware of a bunch of killer deals on unique stuff I want..but it would cost too much to ship or drive to the store to get them.
Drives me crazy knowing that they exist, where they exist but I can't access the stuff economically to make it worthwhile.
FWIW..you need to check Ebay/Craigslist...Panavise is industry standard and has been for decades...there is many Panavises on the surplus market, swap meets, etc.
By the time you include shipping, you will be at a breakeven point at ~$30 for the vise.
FWIW...I am aware of a bunch of killer deals on unique stuff I want..but it would cost too much to ship or drive to the store to get them.
Drives me crazy knowing that they exist, where they exist but I can't access the stuff economically to make it worthwhile.
Sadly the same thing can be said for the gas to drive to any of the few remaining Radio Shack stores that might have them. Calling is fruitless as I have checked on stock, been told no and drove there anyway to find it right there. The PanaVise Model 301 hasn't shown up on the website since the initial clearance, so I can't check that way either. Thanks anyway.
LOL...she and her friends already have their robot. ;<)
Nonetheless, please keep us posted with exactly what philanthropic deeds you do with those three free bots. Don't just sit on them, or resell them, this is your chance to do something good with your fortunate find. Enough question-asking and pondering already, this is your call to action! Find some students and share.
Who was the wise man who said "Companies always forget that the students of today are the designers of tomorrow"? Oh, it was you in post #340!
Sadly the same thing can be said for the gas to drive to any of the few remaining Radio Shack stores that might have them. Calling is fruitless as I have checked on stock, been told no and drove there anyway to find it right there. The PanaVise Model 301 hasn't shown up on the website since the initial clearance, so I can't check that way either. Thanks anyway.
Correct.
Note that after an item drops to true clearance status, RS will not even move it from store to store...for the same reason...they will lose money.
Nonetheless, please keep us posted with exactly what philanthropic deeds you do with those three free bots. Don't just sit on them, or resell them, this is your chance to do something good with your fortunate find. Enough question-asking and pondering already, this is your call to action! Find some students and share.
Who was the wise man who said "Companies always forget that the students of today are the designers of tomorrow"? Oh, it was you in the previous post!
LOL...jealousy does not become you.
And no I do not sell..but donate to deserving people.
The current generation of engineers/programmers owes a debt to those who came before and laid the path we have taken...it only follows that we do the same for the upcoming generation of roboticists.
Found this Pro soldering station today, Shows $39 online but its $29 in store after they take off $10 for the 25% off all clearance items discount. Lady also told me students with ID get an extra 10% off even clearance.
Comments
I do see what you said as true yes even after my school and afterwards the shack helped me go on with projects...
The government encourages failure like this ...small businesses especially fall to the likes of invasive species as WALMART which has no natural predators...
Looks like the seller tried to hide the one that sold... $10.88 vs the current price of $100.88 hoping people would not notice.
1***9 ( 518Feedback score is 500 to 999) US $10.88 1 Dec-04-13 04:55:07 PST
Which PanaVise units did you get? I still can't find the original one people were posting.
I bought multiples of both the original Panavise vise ($5.97) and the Panavise Electronics workstation....a $100 value elsewhere for $19.97 .
Both killer deals.
From the lack of discussion of it here, I conclude most people here do not work with electronics.
These do not go on sale...so the value is significant.
The hardware folks I know are besides themselves with these buys since the Panavise offereings are the standard on industry benches.
Did I mention that I got three more Boebots...for FREE!
Since that SKU was not in the computer any more, the manager gave them to me for FREE!
It is amazing what is sitting in the backrooms of RS.
It's only fair; you started that thread, and it's Christmas!
Ebay is set up to take advantage of buyers.
Never ever trust their site...they go to GREAT lengths to hide anything that buyers could use to determine a fair auction.
I note that you cannot even see what other buyers are buying now...another step to hide rampant shrilling by sellers.
And with the rampant Buy It Nevers that infect Ebay...just assume that the actual selling market price is 10% of the asking price.
One of those wouldn't happen to be the Model 301, would it?
LOL...she and her friends already have their robot. ;<)
But as has been discussed earlier...robots are too expensive and society is poorer because of it.
It reminds me of CPU/microcontroller manufacturers whining about no one is using their product while overcharging for their development kits.
History shows us that designers use what they know...and the IBM PC designers of decades ago used Intel instead of Motorola because Intel gave out free samples while Motorola charged high prices for samples...consider what that ended up costing Motorola.
Companies always forget that the students of today are the designers of tomorrow.
Yes.
RS stores were supposed to return stuff after the latest purge...some did not.
So some stores still have that Panavise available..at silly cheap prices.
One just has to do the legwork to find them.
ebay always hides the buyers name. This is to prevent spam being sent to the buyer for more offers. This has been in place for a couple of years.
The buyers name is available to the seller.
Wish my RS had BOEBots.!
Some things have really changed at RS
I still have 2 multimeters I got there...
I have used Ebay almost from the beginning.
Ebay never hid the buyer's name until the last few years.
They say it is for spam control...as a buyer I know otherwise.
They do it to prevent deals that would not benefit Ebay...not the buyers.
Ebay has its place..but considering that I used to spend thousands on Ebay and now only spend hundreds, it tells me that the real buys are in the past.
They may have them...you have to get someone to check the backroom for old stock.
One of the stores I checked had an old TRS-80 machine NOS in the unopened box..boy did that bring back memories.
This is what I am looking for.
Yep..that is the one for a silly price.
The manager said that he was going to mark it $0.97 but I offered him the price of a quick lunch for it.
Again...do the legwork to find them locally...if they exist.
FWIW..you need to check Ebay/Craigslist...Panavise is industry standard and has been for decades...there is many Panavises on the surplus market, swap meets, etc.
By the time you include shipping, you will be at a breakeven point at ~$30 for the vise.
FWIW...I am aware of a bunch of killer deals on unique stuff I want..but it would cost too much to ship or drive to the store to get them.
Drives me crazy knowing that they exist, where they exist but I can't access the stuff economically to make it worthwhile.
Just let me know when those are in Omaha and you can then rest easy knowing they are not lonely on the shelf anymore...
LOL...yes I will sleep peacefully knowing that.
FWIW...I mentioned elsewhere that the word is that RS will be undergoing another purge in the future.
Any scournger worth his salt will have RS scoped out before this purge for those next killer bargains.
The first vulture gets the biggest mouthful.....
Sadly the same thing can be said for the gas to drive to any of the few remaining Radio Shack stores that might have them. Calling is fruitless as I have checked on stock, been told no and drove there anyway to find it right there. The PanaVise Model 301 hasn't shown up on the website since the initial clearance, so I can't check that way either. Thanks anyway.
Nonetheless, please keep us posted with exactly what philanthropic deeds you do with those three free bots. Don't just sit on them, or resell them, this is your chance to do something good with your fortunate find. Enough question-asking and pondering already, this is your call to action! Find some students and share.
Who was the wise man who said "Companies always forget that the students of today are the designers of tomorrow"? Oh, it was you in post #340!
Correct.
Note that after an item drops to true clearance status, RS will not even move it from store to store...for the same reason...they will lose money.
Again try the used/surplus market.
LOL...jealousy does not become you.
And no I do not sell..but donate to deserving people.
The current generation of engineers/programmers owes a debt to those who came before and laid the path we have taken...it only follows that we do the same for the upcoming generation of roboticists.
A robot is a terrible thing to waste.....
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=15725446
The store I work in had 2when I left work at 3 yesterday.
Jim