The Shack is Back

[Beershaun]

Radio Shack has been reincarnated with both online and brick and mortar stores.
https://www.radioshack.com/

 

[ta240]

I had heard they were opening up mini stores inside other stores.

I wonder what they will carry in them. The nearest one to me is 77 miles away and 4 of the nearest 5 don't look like they'd be high traffic locations. 1 is in a hardware store but the rest are in electronics repair shop type places.

They've had a site online even after their stores closed.

 

[Martin]

I don’t think they ever really left. The Radio Shack inside the Ace Hardware in Sullivan IL never closed. I noticed a new store in Cape Coral FL within weeks of the old one closing.

Martin

 

[RickSanchez]

Wait, Polaroid makes LED TVs? That seems very, ummm, "on brand" for RadioShack.

 

[pozz]

Wait, Polaroid makes LED TVs? That seems very, ummm, "on brand" for RadioShack.


View attachment 114720

$250 for a TV? That big?

Been out of the market too long. How is it possible to produce them that cheaply?

 

[Beershaun]

$250 for a TV? That big?

Been out of the market too long. How is it possible to produce them that cheaply?

That is one of the small ones now. 65" TVs are now (as of 2019) the most popular choice. https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/5/2...tv-size-65-inch-55-preference-market-research

It's the aspect ratio. The long width driving the overall diagonal size.

 

[RickSanchez]

Been out of the market too long. How is it possible to produce them that cheaply?

A somewhat distorted / misused phrase, but I'll mention it here anyway: “If you’re not paying for a product, then you are the product."

It's a question I've been thinking about recently as I've contemplated upgrading the monitor I use for work. How is it that reputable brands like Vizio and TCL can make high-quality 40-inch 4K TVs -- with great picture quality, a large number of features, lots of ports, etc. -- for, say $300 while a nice 27-inch 4K monitor costs $400+?

The answer I came up with: companies like HP and Dell that sell monitors don't bundle in an OS with the monitor. TCL bundles in Roku, and I'm sure Vizio has their own OS or embeds a 3rd party OS. The point being: the TV manufacturers or OS companies like Roku collect your viewing data via the OS and re-sell it. So TVs are the gateway and therefore are sold at cost-ish; the real -- and ongoing -- money is in selling your viewing data. It's the same business model as inkjet printers: sell the printers for a loss, make massive profits on ink cartridges.

I'm not saying I'm correct; just my theory. But I can say from experience that when I installed Pi-hole on my home network I was able to see how often Roku on my TCL TV was phoning home, ostensibly to report my activity. It was scary. I quickly disconnected my TV from the LAN after seeing that.

 

[pozz]

The point being: the TV manufacturers or OS companies like Roku collect your viewing data via the OS and re-sell it. So TVs are the gateway and therefore are sold at cost-ish; the real -- and ongoing -- money is in selling your viewing data.

I think you're probably right. It's a sensible explanation that takes the current trends into account.

 

[warnerwh]

I'm glad to hear they're back but sad that Fry's closed their doors today.

 

[amirm]

I looked at it only shows one store in the entire seattle metro area and it is inside some other store.