But RadioShack was a shithole. The reason I stopped going was because it just wasn't frankly safe to go there and buy a last-minute capacitor from the store on Sunday night, versus just wait a few days for DigiKey to ship. You're taking a fairly substantial risk by using those crap substandard components sold by RadioShack, and it had been this way for some years before they shut down. If RadioShack had actually stocked quality parts for makers, and not tried to pander to the lowest common denominator as their primary focus with the stupid consumer electronics (and phones and mountains of batteries), things might have turned out differently.
Now, Adafruit is expensive, but I trust their components not to explode or otherwise destroy my project. I would travel to an Adafruit-owned RadioShack on Sunday night for that last-minute component. And like I did so often in the 90s, walk out of there having thrown a couple hundred dollars into the "this looks interesting" project hole.
Comments
But RadioShack was a shithole. The reason I stopped going was because it just wasn't frankly safe to go there and buy a last-minute capacitor from the store on Sunday night, versus just wait a few days for DigiKey to ship. You're taking a fairly substantial risk by using those crap substandard components sold by RadioShack, and it had been this way for some years before they shut down. If RadioShack had actually stocked quality parts for makers, and not tried to pander to the lowest common denominator as their primary focus with the stupid consumer electronics (and phones and mountains of batteries), things might have turned out differently.
Now, Adafruit is expensive, but I trust their components not to explode or otherwise destroy my project. I would travel to an Adafruit-owned RadioShack on Sunday night for that last-minute component. And like I did so often in the 90s, walk out of there having thrown a couple hundred dollars into the "this looks interesting" project hole.