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Re: Microcenter

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Chicago Paddling-Fishing <jwn@ripco.com> wrote:
> Cydrome Leader <presence@mungepanix.com> wrote:
>>Chicago Paddling-Fishing <jwn@ripco.com> wrote:
>>> Cydrome Leader <presence@mungepanix.com> wrote:
>>>>Kristian M Zoerhoff <kristian.zoerhoff@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> On 2017-09-25, tert in seattle <tert@ftupet.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Cydrome Leader wrote:
>>>>>>> barbie gee <booger@nosespam.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Thu, 3 Aug 2017, dye wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> In article <ns7sgu$1th$2@remote5bge0.ripco.com>,
>>>>>>>>> Chicago Paddling-Fishing  <jwn@ripco.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> Mark Anderson <mea@nospambradnylion.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> In article bje@ripco.com says...
>>>>>>>>>>>> Yeah but at least they are trying, look where Radio Shack is today.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Keep in mind when MC opened (1997/98?), the computer market was totally
>>>>>>>>>>>> different from today. They need to keep changing shit to get people in the
>>>>>>>>>>>> door.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Remember Handy Andy?  They tried to charge me $108 for a 12 pack of
>>>>>>>>>>> fluorescent tube bulbs because the cashier thought it was $8/bulb
>>>>>>>>>>> instead of $8/12 pack.  Had to get a manager to figure that out.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Microcenter hasn't changed much since they opened.  After a few years
>>>>>>>>>>> opening they became a better deal for a lot of things than that monthly
>>>>>>>>>>> COD computer fair.  Do they still do that?
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> I'm not a gamer but it's obvious from posts, news articles and feeds
>>>>>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>>>>>>> the game market is mostly "online" these days. I don't quite get what Steam
>>>>>>>>>>>> is, but it's obvious it's some pay to play system. That and all the console
>>>>>>>>>>>> machines that only work over the net. With all that going on, I can't see
>>>>>>>>>>>> where carrying them in a store works anymore.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Maybe MC is trying to take a stab at Fry's, although I haven't been out to
>>>>>>>>>>>> the one in Downers Grove (or wherever the hell it is) in a while, last time
>>>>>>>>>>>> I was there they had a couple aisles dedicated to loose "parts". Seems like
>>>>>>>>>>>> a waste of floor space but who knows.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I'm not a gamer either.  I was looking for PS2 games in some bargain bin
>>>>>>>>>>> but now PS3 are the bargain platform.  Microcenter used to have those
>>>>>>>>>>> bargain bins of random stuff that you could spend a lot of time looking
>>>>>>>>>>> through for something you might need and get it cheap.  They don't do
>>>>>>>>>>> that anymore.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> They still have bargan bins (well, more like tables).
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> My big MC bargin bin score was circa 1998...someone had returned a Palm
>>>>>>>>> Pilot 7, which was better than the Palm 5 I went to buy, but also
>>>>>>>>> *included wireless celluar*.  The people who returned it had
>>>>>>>>> activated a data plan and it worked wireless for free for about a
>>>>>>>>> year and a half.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Not that it was fast or anything, probably an analog cellular connection,
>>>>>>>>> but this was living large in 1998.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Hah!
>>>>>>>> I'm surprised they didn't cancel the account, but good for you!
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> I had two different Palm devices, and while they were fun to have, and I 
>>>>>>>> could read my email on them, but looking back at them, boy, were they 
>>>>>>>> clunky compared to our smartphones.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Maybe somebody here can remind me about all of this.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What the hell was a palm even for? I don't recall anybody who ever had one 
>>>>>>> being able to explain what it really did other than looks real stupid 
>>>>>>> hanging off an belt next to a two way pager. I don't recall them even 
>>>>>>> having "basic functionality" like being able to exchange "electronic 
>>>>>>> business cards" or anything like that by pointing them at each other.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Even those silly watches you'd link to your computer by letting the screen 
>>>>>>> flash made more sense.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I got a Palm III from work in 1998 or thereabouts. It had some infrared way
>>>>>> of communicating with other Palm III's but I don't remember ever using that
>>>>>> feature. I used it for playing games and taking notes. The Palm script was
>>>>>> easy to learn and note taking wasn't too cumbersome. It had a backlight so 
>>>>>> you could see the LCD screen in the dark. It also had a flip cover that made 
>>>>>> it great for pretending you were on the USS Enterprise.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Sheeeeeit.
>>>>> 
>>>>> My wife worked for 3Com back in the day (99-06?), so I cycled through a Palm
>>>>> III, a IIIc (color screen!), a V, and a Sony Clie (their licensed clone of a 
>>>>> Palm that, of course, used Memory Stick instead of SD). Man, fuck Sony sideways.
>>>>> 
>>>>> You could beam certain data between units via IR, but it was wonky as fuck.
>>>>> Syncing it in a corporate environment was a challenge, but I do recall getting
>>>>> it to work with Lotus Notes (yeesh) when I was at IBM. 
>>> 
>>>>Back to my old question. What the fuck were you (or anybody really) even 
>>>>syncing? Buzzord bingo terms? Did those piece of shit even do some sort of 
>>>>off-line POP mail? I stil have zero understanding of why nerds used those 
>>>>things.
>>> 
>>> Data... the goal is to never type the same thing twice... which included
>>> backing up your contacts so if you reset the device they weren't all lost
>>> although even back when I had the Franklan eBookman, I recall using a USB
>>> cable to sync contacts back and forth (it had contacts and note taking
>>> apps on it too and was pretty cheap back in 99 or so).
> 
>>Still just not getting it.
> 
>>Why the hell would you backup a contact list on a device bigger than an 
>>phone of the era?
> 
>>Here's what it comes down to.
> 
>>palm pilots were completely stupid devices for stupid people.
> 
> They weren't stupid... they were much better than little scraps of paper kept 
> inside your pocket protector so you could move them easily from shirt to 
> shirt each morning...

Scraps of paper in pocket protectors? I think I've found the problem here.


> Back then you just didn't have the digital bandwidth (actually I think it was 
> still analog signals at that time... when I worked at Motorola cellular in the
> 80's it was all analog).  Syncing with a USB cable in the 90's was a lot more
> reliable than syncing with a watch flashing at a tube screen.

USB at any point in the 1990s was far less reliable than aiming a watch at 
a 14" CRT.

Is this a website you maintain?

http://www.faughnan.com/palm.html

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Re: Microcenter Chicago Paddling-Fishing <jwn@ripco.com> - 2016-09-25 06:57 +0000
  Re: Microcenter Crawford Sausage Company <mea@brandylion.com> - 2016-09-25 12:16 -0700
  Re: Microcenter dye@d118-75-174-144.try.wideopenwest.com (dye) - 2016-09-28 21:24 +0000
    Re: Microcenter Geoff Gass <glg@tanzenmb.com> - 2016-09-28 23:57 +0000
      Re: Microcenter Michele <eatshitanddie@spammers.com> - 2016-09-29 00:50 -0500
      Re: Microcenter dye@d118-75-174-144.try.wideopenwest.com (dye) - 2016-09-30 16:15 +0000
  Re: Microcenter dye@d118-75-174-144.try.wideopenwest.com (dye) - 2017-08-03 16:24 +0000
    Re: Microcenter barbie gee <booger@nosespam.com> - 2017-08-05 09:38 -0500
      Re: Microcenter Cydrome Leader <presence@MUNGEpanix.com> - 2017-08-23 13:15 +0000
        Re: Microcenter Geoff Gass <glg@tanzenmb.com> - 2017-08-23 14:23 +0000
          Re: Microcenter Chicago Paddling-Fishing <jwn@ripco.com> - 2017-11-05 09:08 +0000
        Re: Microcenter Don Seeley <see-sig@fakedomain.com> - 2017-08-30 16:24 +0000
          Re: Microcenter Cydrome Leader <presence@MUNGEpanix.com> - 2017-09-02 21:52 +0000
            Re: Microcenter Michele <goaway@noseytwats.com> - 2017-09-07 01:42 -0500
            Re: Microcenter dye@d118-75-174-144.try.wideopenwest.com (dye) - 2017-10-14 20:39 +0000
        Re: Microcenter tert in seattle <tert@ftupet.com> - 2017-09-25 00:52 +0000
          Re: Microcenter Kristian M Zoerhoff <kristian.zoerhoff@gmail.com> - 2017-10-04 01:39 +0000
            Re: Microcenter nobody@[127.0.0.1] (David W. Tamkin) - 2017-10-04 15:01 +0000
              Re: Microcenter Kristian M Zoerhoff <kristian.zoerhoff@gmail.com> - 2017-10-04 19:11 +0000
                Re: Microcenter Michele <goaway@noseytwats.com> - 2017-10-06 00:16 -0500
                Re: Microcenter Kristian M Zoerhoff <kristian.zoerhoff@gmail.com> - 2017-10-07 22:26 +0000
                Re: Microcenter Michele <goaway@noseytwats.com> - 2017-10-07 23:00 -0500
                Re: Microcenter Geoff Gass <glg@tanzenmb.com> - 2017-10-11 23:19 +0000
                Re: Microcenter Michele <goaway@noseytwats.com> - 2017-10-12 00:39 -0500
                Re: Microcenter Geoff Gass <glg@tanzenmb.com> - 2017-10-13 17:51 +0000
                Re: Microcenter Michele <goaway@noseytwats.com> - 2017-10-14 22:45 -0500
                Re: Microcenter barbie gee <booger@nosespam.com> - 2017-10-21 23:49 -0500
                Re: Microcenter barbie gee <booger@nosespam.com> - 2017-10-21 23:48 -0500
                Re: Microcenter nobody@[127.0.0.1] (David W. Tamkin) - 2017-10-07 02:56 +0000
            Re: Microcenter Cydrome Leader <presence@MUNGEpanix.com> - 2017-10-10 03:11 +0000
              Re: Microcenter Kristian M Zoerhoff <kristian.zoerhoff@gmail.com> - 2017-10-11 16:07 +0000
              Re: Microcenter dye@d118-75-174-144.try.wideopenwest.com (dye) - 2017-10-14 20:46 +0000
                Re: Microcenter barbie gee <booger@nosespam.com> - 2017-10-21 23:51 -0500
                Re: Microcenter dye@d118-75-174-144.try.wideopenwest.com (dye) - 2017-10-23 23:06 +0000
              Re: Microcenter Chicago Paddling-Fishing <jwn@ripco.com> - 2017-11-05 09:25 +0000
                Re: Microcenter Cydrome Leader <presence@MUNGEpanix.com> - 2017-11-07 03:18 +0000
                Re: Microcenter Chicago Paddling-Fishing <jwn@ripco.com> - 2017-11-07 05:15 +0000
                Re: Microcenter Cydrome Leader <presence@MUNGEpanix.com> - 2017-11-26 05:57 +0000
                Re: Microcenter Chicago Paddling-Fishing <jwn@ripco.com> - 2018-01-14 01:57 +0000
                Re: Microcenter Cydrome Leader <presence@MUNGEpanix.com> - 2018-01-17 04:03 +0000
                Re: Microcenter Chicago Paddling-Fishing <jwn@ripco.com> - 2018-08-13 06:48 +0000
                Re: Microcenter barbie gee <booger@nosespam.com> - 2018-08-17 19:24 -0500
    Re: Microcenter Max <betatron@gmail.com> - 2017-08-05 21:07 -0500

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