863 - Boo Hoo - Goodbye Radio Shack, Learning Habits, Expertise Notes
January 16, 2015 Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - January 16, 2015.
#863 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
56,805 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.
Host: Performance Support/Agile Learning LAB - Next Week!
1. Boo Hoo - Goodbye Radio Shack!
2. My Learning Habit - 2 TED Videos a Day.
3. Making Notes About Expertise - Where Does it Go?
1. Boo Hoo - Goodbye Radio Shack! OK, I am pretty depressed this morning. Many of the Radio Shack stores in my area are closing. It is part of a slow and painful wind down of Radio Shack, a key place and institution in my youth as a nerd who loved to “make” stuff.
I probably visited a Radio Shack once a week from my early teens through my 30’s. Here were some of the things I did (somewhat dated or alien to my younger TRENDS readers) when I visited the local “Shack”:
* Brought the “tubes” from inside a television set or radio to be tested at Radio Shack. They had a machine in the store (that later moved to the storeroom) that tested an electronic, glowing tube. Image here: http://tinyurl.com/tubetester This let me help my neighbors when their TV or radio wasn’t working - before calling for a visit from the service company.
* Bought small resistors to build electronic devices. I would pick the right resistor, based on Ohms of electric resistance, and find it by reading the color codes on the wire. Each resistor was less than a $1 and it allowed me to make or fix things. Radio Shack had the best and widest selection. Image here: http://tinyurl.com/resistorspic
* Stop in and talk to the staff at the Radio Shack about a project or idea - and they would help me to invent or adapt it. I wanted to have my radio in my bedroom play the sound from our Black and White TV in the living room - to listen to shows after my bedtime curfew. They gave me a wiring chart and I bought some parts to listen to the 11 o’clock news quietly enough that my parents never found out. Thanks, Radio Shack!
Radio Shack was a “makers” haven and heaven. It was the place where we could buy the bits and parts to fix, improve or even create something electrical or electronic. This was way before mail order and large stores. But, Radio Shack played a key role in my generation’s development.
I bought my first computer, The TRS 80 Model 1, from Radio Shack. It had almost no memory, all CAPS on the small monitor, and read and wrote programs from a cassette recorder. But, many of the breakthrough early programming was done on a Radio Shack computer. I even led one of the first “computer clubs” in my region, which met at the Radio Shack at the mall and then had pizza at the food court afterwards.
Sure, things change. And, there are so many ways in which we can buy what we need, instantly. But I wonder what would have happened if the owners of Radio Shack, starting with the Tandy Corporation, had dropped the name “Radio” and just made it “The Shack”. I wonder if the stores could have become places where people who wanted to be “makers” of tools, technologies or fixes - from wiring together the appliances in our homes to experimenting with 3D Printing or even a students’ area - could play with and buy robotics. I even suggested to the CEO of Best Buy, whom I met shortly after he was hired, that they buy Radio Shack and add a “Shack” to each of their stores.
Alas, goodbye to Radio Shack! I will always value the memories, the learnings and even the burn on my finger from the mistake I made with the new soldering gun that I bought at a Shack. I wish that you had “Lived Long and Prospered”. You were part of my growth. And, you were a part of the technology revolution that was triggered by the race to the Moon, science fairs, computers and the rise of the digital age. Thanks and farewell.
2. My Learning Habit - 2 TED Videos a Day: We are honored to host Jennifer Cheng, a learning professional from PwC Hong Kong, who is working on a research project for a few months at The MASIE Center focused on “Making Learning a Habit”. I am experimenting with this idea and have started a behavior that may become one of my habits:
Every workday, I watch 1 or even better 2 TED Videos. These may be from one of the global TED conferences or from a TEDx regional event. They range from 6 to 18 minutes in duration and it is interesting for me to have the act of watching these as a daily expectation of myself. After a week, I have watched about 9 segments and it feels wonderful, short and invigorating. As I tell folks about my emerging habit, I am getting emails and messages suggesting a cool TED video to view.
We are curious about the idea of making Learning a Habit. We would love to hear from some of our TRENDS readers about this idea. Send a note to emasie@masie.com
3. Making Notes About Expertise - Where Does it Go? A learning leader asked me a fascinating question yesterday:
“Where do workers keep notes about colleagues that have useful expertise?”
Do they keep a running list, add personal notes to their version of the employee directory, create a personal contact on their mobile phones or use other strategies?
Ultimately, we want to build our own knowledge and expertise maps of a subset of the large employee bases in our organizations. It is a great feature for LMS and Social Network suppliers to expand.
Yours in learning,
Elliott Masie
Chair, The Learning CONSORTIUM
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