In 1986, when I started my job at Microtec Research, I visited the United States for the first time. Specifically, I went to Santa Clara, California – Silicon Valley. During that stay and numerous visits in the years that followed, I got to know the area quite well. I always enjoyed the vibe – the feeling that I was in a place where stuff happened. This was evident in many ways: the company names on the office blocks, the buzz in bars and restaurants, the give-away newspapers, even the shopping \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I always enjoy perusing shops when I am abroad – even \u201cboring\u201d shops like supermarkets are an interesting perspective on a society. During the early years of my visiting the US, the global branding that is now so common was in its infancy. For example, I had young children at that time and I could guarantee to find unique things for them that they would never see at home. But Silicon Valley had even more to offer. At some point I was after an electronic item and a colleague told me \u201cYou should go to Fry\u2019s – you\u2019ll love it\u201d. They were right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can think of nothing that encapsulates my perception of Silicon Valley better than the Fry\u2019s Electronics<\/a> stores. All the stores were enormous and stocked just about anything that you might describe as \u201celectronics\u201d [along with a large stock of candy etc. and a good selection of magazines]. If you wanted an electronic device, that was the place to go. If you wanted to build something electronic, they would stock the parts you needed. Every time I visited the area, I would go to one or other of the Fry\u2019s stores – even if I did not really need anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was quite shocked, though mostly saddened, to see the news<\/a> this week that Fry\u2019s<\/a> are no more. I have not been to one of their stores for a few years and, reading the news, I think that I am glad, as I can enjoy the memory of them in their heyday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were other Silicon Valley retail icons, like Computer Literacy Bookshops<\/a> and Egghead Software<\/a>, but they disappeared a while ago. Although Fry\u2019s held on longer, all these retailers were the victims of online shopping. Part of me is sad, as browsing stores could be a magical experience, but another part of me just loves the fact that I can buy almost anything I can imagine with just a few clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sorry Fry\u2019s. You had your day and added to our lives in interesting ways. But those days are past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 1986, when I started my job at Microtec Research, I visited the United States for the first time. Specifically,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71677,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[302],"industry":[],"product":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-9528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learning-resources","tag-off-topic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9528"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9529,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9528\/revisions\/9529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9528"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=9528"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=9528"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}