Does anyone remember what happened to Radio Shack?

They started out selling niche electronics supplies. Capacitors and transformers and shit. This was never the most popular thing, but they had an audience, one that they had a real lock on. No one else was doing that, so all the electronics geeks had to go to them, back in the days before online ordering. They branched out into other electronics too, but kept doing the electronic components.

Eventually they realize that they are making more money selling cell phones and remote control cars than they were with those electronic components. After all, everyone needs a cellphone and some electronic toys, but how many people need a multimeter and some resistors?

So they pivoted, and started only selling that stuff. All cellphones, all remote control cars, stop wasting store space on this niche shit.

And then Walmart and Target and Circuit City and Best Buy ate their lunch. Those companies were already running big stores that sold cellphones and remote control cars, and they had more leverage to get lower prices and selling more stuff meant they had more reasons to go in there, and they couldn't compete. Without the niche electronics stuff that had been their core brand, there was no reason to go to their stores. Everything they sold, you could get elsewhere, and almost always for cheaper, and probably you could buy 5 other things you needed while you were there, stuff Radio Shack didn't sell.

And Radio Shack is gone now. They had a small but loyal customer base that they were never going to lose, but they decided to switch to a bigger but more fickle customer base, one that would go somewhere else for convenience or a bargain. Rather than stick with what they were great at (and only they could do), they switched to something they were only okay at... putting them in a bigger pond with a lot of bigger fish who promptly out-competed them.

If Radio Shack had stayed with their core audience, who knows what would have happened? Maybe they wouldn't have made a billion dollars, but maybe they would still be around, still serving that community, still getting by. They may have had a small audience, but they had basically no competition for that audience. But yeah, we only know for sure what would happen if they decided to attempt to go more mainstream: They fail and die. We know for sure because that's what they did.

I don't know why I keep thinking about the story of what happened to Radio Shack. It just keeps feeling relevant for some reason.

discovered an intriguing network of pornbots which appear to be repeatedly reblogging this picture of butter between themselves

4 non blondes were right. I DO wake in the morning and I step outside and I take a deep breath and I get real high and I scream from the top of my lungs what’s going on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what would you do if that was you?

we need to popularize the term “mutual bait”, where you make a post with the sole purpose of a specific mutual interacting with it

WGA Garage Sale: 2023 Strike Auction

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[image ID: first image is a screenshot from the WGA Garage Sale Auction page. Item is listed as Package 8 with a starting bid of $100 and titled, "Bidding begins July 27 -- Personalized Video from the Office Ladies." Attached is a photo of actresses Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer, aka Angela and Pam from The Office.

second image is a screenshot from the WGA Garage Sale Auction page. Item is listed as Package 14 with a starting bid of $100 and titled, "Bidding begins July 27: Elementary props from Robert Wolfe. @writergeekrhw Image is of a man holding props.

third image is a screenshot from the WGA Garage Sale Auction page. Item is listed as Package 18 with a starting bid of $100 and titled "Enigma Machine prop from Bones." Image is of the Enigma Machine from the TV show Bones.

fourth image is a screenshot from the WGA Garage Sale Auction page. Item is listed as Package 24 with a starting bid of $50 and titled, "Lisa Hanawalt Handpainted Bojack Horseman strike sign." Attached is an image of Bojack Horseman with the text "Give us a fair deal or suck a dick dumbshits!"

fifth image is a screenshot from the WGA Garage Sale Auction page. Item is listed as Package 37 with a starting bid of $100 and titled, "Better Call Saul Crew Gifts." Attached is an image of BCS logo beer steins, a bag, and a mug.

sixth image is a screenshot from the WGA Garage Sale Auction page. Item is listed as Package 42 with a starting bid of $100 and titled, "What We Do In The Shadows - Colin Robinson's notebook." Image is of a composition book prop from WWDITS.

seventh image is a screenshot from the WGA Garage Sale Auction page. Item is listed as Package 41 with a starting bid of $50 and titled, "What We Do In The Shadows signed poster (1 of 12 printed)." Attached is the WWDITS poster.

eighth image is a screenshot from the WGA Garage Sale Auction page. Item is listed as Package 46 with a starting bid of $50 and titled, "Connor Roy For President Hat." Image is of a baseball cap from the show Succession that says Connor Roy For President. end ID.]

Support the WGA strike and bid on some cool items from your favorite writers, creators, and film/TV shows! Link to auction site here.

Lots more stuff on the website, with more auction items added frequently!

America really is irredeemably evil. This article in the new york times ADMITS that prisons are an industry in America, yet tries to convince its readers to empathize with the people enforcing US law in these prisons, with NO empathy for the people incarcerated there

Mega mansion tycoon is funny bc your face hovers over your other properties and i can see myself as a ghost from my penthouse

it’s so annoying seeing comments like this under videos of gay men talking or just walking around bc it’s like. do u think he doesnt know he sounds gay? do u think he doesnt know his mannerism’s make him appear feminine ? “his guns pink” “ur girly pop” “somebody’s fruity” like it’s not even jokes anymore it’s just homophobia he isnt stupid he knows that others will know hes gay that isn’t the point of his video omfg