On Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 2:03 PM, CDB wrote: > I read on the BBC website that Radio Shack is closing 1100 stores,around > 20% of their total number due to fast declining sales. > > I've only ever seen their Tandy offshoots, which in the UK were always > quite expensive from actual component pricing (though I am comparing them > to the likes of Maplin and Henrys Radio and Cirkit amongst others in the > 70s). They very soon lapsed into just a gadget outlet. I understand thoug= h > that in the US they did retain their proper hobby supply status and were > competitive from a hobbyist point of view. The best way to get a really good idea of how Radio Shack has changed over the years is to browse through their catalogs. A nearly complete collection of catalogs can be found here: http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/ As a parallel comparison, it is worthwhile to browse through the archives of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics that are also available on-line: http://books.google.com/books?id=3DwCkDAAAAMBAJ http://books.google.com/books?id=3D49gDAAAAMBAJ It does not take long to notice that the 1960s was the peak of amateur science and construction articles. It should be not at all surprising that this is also the area when the RS catalogs were at their strongest. The long, slow decline from 1970 onwards is very revealing of America as a culture. It is interesting to put this in the context of the hype surrounding the recent "Maker Movement". The vast majority of articles written on the topic seem completely ignorant of the history of amateur builders, and in many ways, the modern maker movement is still a far cry from what it once was. -p. --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .