Electronics workbench talk (was "Hakko 888D")

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Slippyblade:

--- Quote from: lilshawn on November 10, 2015, 08:13:26 pm ---is radioshack even around anymore??? I know they've all but closed up shop in canada.

--- End quote ---

They filed bankruptcy earlier this year and were bought up by Sprint. 2/3s of the stores were closed up and liquidated. There are still a handful around (3 in the Phoenix, AZ area for example) but they are basically dead. The writing was on the wall for over a decade. When they shifted their focus from DIY to "consumer goods" and cell phones, they basically signed the companies death warrant. Why would anybody shop for consumer electronics from Radio Shack when better quality and cheaper prices were to be had a mile down the road?

Howard_Casto:
Not quite.

RadioShack failed when they attempted to be a cell phone store, failed, and then tried to shift their focus back to DIY, which was a nice sentiment except now we have the internet, so nobody is going to get conned into buying a 5 dollar resistor, especially when you only have two packets in stock.

In the 70's and 80's they didn't make their money as a DIY store, but rather the spencer gifts for nerds. They sold computers, r/c cars, robots, experiment kits and more, all under Radio Shack branding and all exclusive to the store. Yes they also kept the tinkerers satisfied, but that wasn't their main source of revenue since the early 70's. They had sense enough to know that both were essential to the business model though as they didn't seem legit without the isles of parts and cb equipment.

The fact that the phone company that, in our neck of the woods at least, was always directly beside RadioShack in any mall/shopping center was who bought them is particularly sad. It's like the CEOs never saw one of their stores out in the wild or something.

yotsuya:

--- Quote from: pbj on November 10, 2015, 10:00:02 am ---Got handed this thing. I guess it's for having a pool of melted solder handy:

My undying respect and admiration for anyone that comes up with a use for it.

--- End quote ---

PBJ Personal Fondue Pot?

vwalbridge:
More like fon-don't... :lol

...sorry, I'll show myself out.

pbj:
That thing holds one chip's worth of queso, tops.

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