I liken the decline of Radio Shack to the decline of the educational system and lack of people with the intelligence to DIY as far as electronics is concerned. How many people even know what a fucking soldering iron is? Need a HF crossover for your car stereo system? I can make one myself.

Back in the 90s they started selling ready made gadgets and toys and were heavy into the cell phone market. Any time I went to sort around for odd small electronics parts there was always a long line for people paying for something to do with their phones. When they saw me with a handful of resistors, capacitors diodes or other small components they couldn't believe it. It was as if they were thinking "Someone actually buys this stuff?". Umm, yeah, I have a hobby and interests other than the vapid shit most people are drowning in. Most people don't have hobbies. How many people know how to check/change the oil in their cars? How many check the tire air pressure or are able to put on a spare tire?

The beauty of Radio Shack was you could go there and get the parts and have them in hand. Sure, you can order small electronics parts online but you don't really know what you got until in hand. What if it's not what you want/need? There was Radio Shack's niche. They sold some pretty cool Realistic speakers for cheap but people don't have real stereo sound systems any longer; they have surround sound systems for their entertainment systems that may have a receiver and CD player connected. I got some really cool bookshelf speakers back in the 90s for 1/2 price and no one makes that type of speaker any longer. I pair them with my AR4s and it sounds beautiful. most people's idea of music is headphones and a cell phone. Fuck that I want to move air. Back when people used antennas for TV RS sold real antennas. I still use one but can't find the particular model RS use to carry; a commercial version of a Gray-Hoverman that sucks in digital channels like nothing else. Want to see true HDTV? Go visit someone who doesn't have satellite or cable. Over the air TV is the bomb and I hav convinced several people to do so over the years. Better picture for free. NFL never looked so good.

Modern society doesn't deserve Radio Shack because they have their heads up their asses playing with their cell phones. The guy narrating this video sounds like a cell phone mastubater because he doesn't know what Radio Shack was other than what he is reading from the paper in front of him. Radio Shack went tits up because the general public got stupid over the past 50 years. I need to go to the one up the road for some of their good quality banana plugs before they shut down.