So do I, but 8.2 ohms is not a value I use much. I appear to have used one in the last ~45 years, given I have 9 in stock.
These came from Rapid, ~45 years ago - an E12 set of 10 each value which primed my stock of resistors, instead of rummaging around my dad's biscuit tin with random resistors from valve amps. I still have a few values where I still have the original Rapid ones, but mostly not.
I bet there are any number of memos, and conversations at the time which pointed that out.
A lot of "hindsight" is actually remembering what was said at the time...
Previously, I would have hoped that ability to call up tangible proof of those warnings - possibly in video form, if TV programmes were made - would have neutralised the dishonesty of people claiming "they had no idea" when a pet project goes titsup.
Instead we just have "fake news" and move on :(
Argos *are* in trouble. Unless I am misinformed the "savings" on the tie- up/merger with Sainsburys are coming in part from a "harmonisation" of their stock and logistic systems. And you can bet it will mean dumping the working Argos one, and overwhelming the could-it-get-any-worse Sainsburys one.
We buy 5000 resistors for £3 a time. They are surface mount and come on reels, but it's always worth going out of your way to get a bargain ;-)
Theo
What with one store or another going to the wall it's beginning to look an awful lot like a recession. When the arch globalist Mike Carney said the BoE was expecting to raise rates again in August, I have to conclude the man is a fool or a liar (and I don't believe he's a fool).
Same here! Except in my case it was more like 35 years ago...
J^n
Or so many businesses getting too out of touch with what the customer wants.
People still buy food, cloths, white goods etc. but many do not still use the shops they may have done 10 years ago.
Today, I've sat in front of my computer and ordered goods on-line from 6 different retailers.
Its not a recession, its just that Internet/Mail order continues to replace the high street as the place to buy stuff - especially stuiff that doesn't need 'touch and feel'.
Its a revolution in shopping habits. Going 'into town' is now about cafes, and bookshops and the odd clothing store. Specialist places are now in industrial estates and the rest have just closed down.
>
Exactly. I built up my Nikon camera kit from secondhand camera stores. Since then I went digital with a body bought on ebay and lenses bought online from amazon.
Only thiunjgs I buy in town are medicines from Boots, food from waitrose and the local butchers and the other day some jeans from M & S, *after trying them on*
Building materials and tools are on the industrial estates.
I never buy electronics from stores - always online.
How can they survive with so many high street stores in the same town and often situated next to a "cut price drug store" selling non-prescription items much cheaper? In my town one time there were two Boots chemists and a Boots Optician within a couple of minutes walking distance. I believe that the Optician side of the business merged/took over another business which also created duplicate high street stores - not a good idea in these times.
I recently had a letter from Boots for a free eye test and £50 glasses. When checking on the web the £50 offer was limited to a couple of frames that wouldn't really suit me and ALL the other glasses styles listed were very high priced. If the web prices are indicative of what is in the stores it's a service I will not use.
food from waitrose
Waitrose are finding out that some of their sales are going to Aldi/Lidl.
If you still have one then keep using it. If you still have a local butcher they must be doing something right as most have closed unable to compete with supermarkets.
and the other day some jeans from M & S, *after
I don't think I've been into a M&S for the past 10 years. I always use a physical store to buy trousers because, like you, I like to try them on. Some of the retailers that supply clothes on-line have very high overhead costs because of high returns. People will often order the same thing in different sizes to try on at home and return the items that don't fit.
IMO, M&S is one of those retailers which are close to failure. Too many shops in high streets where their neighbours are just pound and charity shops. No real reason to pay town centre parking charges just to go to their store. In my town the M&S is a near niegbour to the still boarded up BHS.
Toolstatan and Screwfix are next door to one another less than 5 minutes drive from my house. B&Q and Homebase are closer and the former may be used for a distress purchase of, say, a bag of sand to save driving 20 minutes to get it cheaper. I will want to always inspect wood before purchase as there is so much c**p quality out there.
In general yes. I did buy a laptop from PC World - only because I had a voucher as part of a long service at work award. It was either voucher for PC World or a voucher for other "high street" retailers I don't normally use because their prices are high to start with.
Didn't people do the same with Grattan's/Kay's catalogues 40 years ago?
Could be I have 99, then. But rather +99 than -1. ;-)
I have a nest of drawers each of which has three compartments, each with 4 values still on their strip. Keep each of those stocked to about 10 - adding a further 10 when needed, and write the value on the strip.
The spare stock is kept in their original packets, and sub grouped into larger packets. Meaning I can find replacements pretty quickly without having to try and read the colours through plastic.
If I have a particular project that is better with resistors other than my 'stock' type, I'll obviously order them in. But for most of my stuff they're fine.
Oh indeed. But for my sort of stuff, through hole is the norm. I'm old. ;-)
The sad thing is, as has been said, it that Maplin were very much in on the start of mail order. But IIRC changed hands and lost its direction.
I'm one of those that don't mind paying slightly over the odds for convenience. But not when that markup for convenience becomes silly. Like B&Q charging the same for a few screws you can get 100 for in the nearby Toolstation. Something they could get away with once, but not today. Especially since their stock can lie on the shelves unsold for ages.
Shopping centres (malls?) - not necessarily the high street - still have a huge role. The main one in Sheffield (2 miles from the centre, Meadowhall) never ceases to amaze me - absolutely packed. It even has a food annex which I accidentally came across - must have been 30 eateries
- all full. And that was mid-week.
I can't say I understand it (or like it), but terrestrial retail still has a place.
There are so many retail jobs now going for the chop. If those people can't get re-employed, then they will not be spending in the shops that remain open. Normally recessions are caused by either some economic shock (like a substantial oil price hike) or a steep rise in interest rates or a period of austerity necessitated by a prudent government taking over from an overspending one. If this is another recession, it will arise from an entirely novel cause.
I'm partially responsible for these high street closures, being an early adopter of online purchasing. :(
Yes and that's why they were not competitive with high street shops at the time. In addition, they tended to trade on buy now and pay later in installments at fairly high rates of interest.
I've just been down to my local hardware store and purchased 2 crimp connectors that can be used to attach wires to bolts (negative connection in a car) and 10 "penny" washers for grand total of 45 pence. All sold loose from self service bins. Nails are sold by weight and screws can be purchased in small numbers or by the box. Prices tend to be a lot lower than B&Q.
And soon there will be on-line retailers going to the wall! There are a few I would never use again having found alternative on-line retailers with comparable goods/prices but with much better customer service.
"Maplin Electronic Supplies was established in 1972 as a mail order business by Roger and Sandra Allen and Doug Simmons." (Wikipedia)
Er.. what about all those electronics suppliers I bought stuff from in the 60s?
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