[NJARC] Why the Internet didn't kill Radio Shack

Thu Apr 2 11:27:03 EDT 2015

No cellphone collecting?  How about a code practice oscillator museum?

http://www.n4mw.com/cpo.htm

Ed
N2COV

On 4/1/2015 9:45 PM, David Sica wrote:
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> _________________________________________________________
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>
>
> Jim,
>
> Collecting cellphones?  Nah, one's got to draw the line somewhere.  But
> then again...  I did have to keep my "bag phone" from 1985 or so. I used
> to drag it out occasionally to tease my kids when they started badgering
> me for newer, smaller phones.
>
> -- Dave
>
> Sica Productions
> 732-382-0618
> 973-873-6347
>
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 1, 2015 at 5:57 PM, <antqradio at sbcglobal.net
> <mailto:antqradio at sbcglobal.net>> wrote:
>
>     Just remember
>     Reply = Poster
>     Reply All = Everyone
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>     _________________________________________________________
>
>     I can speak only for myself but I imagine that some on this list
>     have had similar experiences with Radio Shack.
>
>     First off, I have bought several scanners and shortwave receivers
>     from them over the years and I have been happy with all of them.
>     They were worth what I paid and reliability was better then average,
>     in my experience.  I guess up to about the year 2000 or so, buying
>     components from RS was common for me.  But after they concentrated
>     more and more on cellphones and the like and the component shelves
>     dried up, I stopped going.  By then I had discovered Mouser and have
>     used them and eBay for all of my component needs ever since.
>
>     I don't really think that RS management was to blame, it is just the
>     price of progress.  When you think about it, modern electronic
>     products are now no longer repairable.  Pick and place surface
>     mounted parts, not much bigger then ground pepper flakes, have made
>     the cost to replace the end item so low that repair a thing of the
>     past.  Not to mention that reliability is, for the most part so high
>     that one gets tired of the old cell phone or what have you long
>     before it fails.
>
>     When I left the cell phone industry, the cost to manufacture a phone
>     was around $300.  The most costly component was the six volt
>     battery.  The production life cycle of the cell phone was 18
>     months.  The first three or so months, the phone sold for $300, the
>     next three or so months it was at $100 or so.  In the last months of
>     production, the phone was free for signing a new contract since all
>     of the R&D and production cost had been recovered and a nice profit
>     was made by all.  Ah, the beauty of mass production!
>
>     15 years of so later, I imagine that the cost to make a cell phone
>     is much lower.  My Blackberry Z10, which I think is wonderful and
>     intuitive to use, was free to me for a two year contract extension.
>     It has an 8MB camera so I no longer have a need for the Nicon
>     Coolpix 2000 camera and the GPS receiver in the car.  The Z10 has
>     more speed and memory then either of my first two or three PC's I
>     paid a king's ransom for.  It just blows my mind!  And to think our
>     favorite hobby is the collection and restoration of ancient vacuum
>     tube radios and electronics; it is just plain crazy.
>
>     Is anyone collecting cellphones?  I have a few early AMPS and DAMPS
>     Ericsson and other makers of cell phones, some NIB, some engineering
>     samples and some with only the circuit board, free for postage.  If
>     InfoAge is interested, I'll throw in a cellphone schematic!
>     Jim
>
>
>
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     *From:* Alex Magoun <a.b.magoun at ieee.org <mailto:a.b.magoun at ieee.org>>
>     *To:* njarc at mailman.qth.net <mailto:njarc at mailman.qth.net>
>     *Sent:* Wednesday, April 1, 2015 1:18 PM
>     *Subject:* [NJARC] Why the Internet didn't kill Radio Shack
>
>     Per this Fortune reporter
>     (http://fortune.com/2015/04/01/why-the-internet-did-not-kill-radio-shack/?xid=gn_editorspicks&google_editors_picks=true),
>     though I'm curious what the profit margin is/was on selling
>     components to restorers/DIYers/hackers/makers compared to cell
>     phones.  Besides, it was selling, or trying to sell, consumer
>     electronics at least 40 years ago.
>
>     Alex
>     ~~~
>     Alexander B. Magoun, Ph.D., Outreach Historian
>     IEEE History Center
>     at Stevens Institute of Technology
>     Samuel C. Williams Library 3rd Floor
>     Hoboken, NJ 07030-5991
>     USA
>
>     +1 732-981-3414 <tel:%2B1%20732-981-3414>
>     a.b.magoun at ieee.org <mailto:a.b.magoun at ieee.org>
>     www.ethw.org <http://www.ethw.org/>
>     @IEEEHistory
>     www.ieee.org/history_center <http://www.ieee.org/history_center>
>
>     IEEE - Advancing Technology for Humanity
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>     Just remember
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