|
Amen. On the left coast in Silicon Valley, there was but no longer the below. People in the valley used to make their own homebrew electronics and homebrew computers. Moreover, most Americans who weren't business people made things at home more than just furniture or minor residential remodeling, as opposed to now where it is fairly rare to even change one's own car's oil or brake pads because just about every task and need in personal life and even human interaction has been commodified or transactionalized. It is the norm that office workers have few (apparent or claimed) skills besides what they do for work and tend to be adverse to trying new things; it's not a condemnation but an observation. Anyhow, here's the list: - WeirdStuff Warehouse - DIY PC computer parts, shareware floppies by the bin full, used electronic goods and components that sold inventory to ebay:outback6 - Halted/HSC - Somewhat similar to WeirdStuff but sold inventory to ebay:excess-solutions - JDR Microdevices, which was more professional than DIY - And there were specialized shops for vacuum tubes and particular kinds of electronic appliances, notably there were ~100 to 100's of independent IBM PC-compatible DIY computer retail shops in 1990's SF Bay Area region selling made-to-order beige box systems and DIY parts. (Back then, there was no RGB, no pane glass windows, and all computer cases were the same color of beige, with black and off-white only becoming available in the late 90's.) Not quite as fancy or organized as what is available elsewhere in the world like Shenzhen now, but more spread out and sometimes owned by hard-working, first-generation immigrant families who represented the best of America's melting pot and American sole-proprietor entrepreneurship. They were small stores put out of business by the multi-store and hypermart chains like Central Computer Systems, NCA Peripherals, Fry's Electronics, and CompUSA. Nationally, there were: - Heathkit - mail-order, educational, self-paced kits including ham radio, major home appliances, and test equipment like TVs and oscilloscopes - RadioShack ("RatShack") - electronic components, soldering and hobbyist parts, many electronic kits for kids - Fry's Electronics - many shelves of electronic components and assembly tools that never received much attention, it was mostly a convenience store if you were doing commercial work and needed something overpriced now |
Why go to surplus store to fish for overstock of weird LCDs, when you can buy new one for $3, with documentation and a breakout board? Why salvage gearhead motors from industrial electronics when you can get brand-new ones for $5? And from the other side, if you've got some harmonic gearbox motor, why try sell them locally for $30 when you can get $150 on eBay?
There is no doubt a lot has been lost - those little stores had incredible deals, when some rare, high-quality parts were sold very cheap. Those $5 gear motors you buy today are much worse than that surplus store motor which was $100 new. But I also don't have to wait for six months for the right parts to appear in stores, so I think we are better off overall.