Lost faith in Futureshop
Here in Canada the equivalent of Best Buy or Circuit City is Futureshop. Actually, Best Buy owns Futureshop and there are a few (or maybe just one) Best Buy locations in Canada now. But I digress... Point is, I have lost faith in Futureshop to meet my techno-geek needs. A few examples are warranted:
1. I want to wire my new house (yup, I just moved from Moncton to Riverview) with Cat6 cabling and put in a gigabit switch. Guess what? Futureshop in Moncton has no Cat6 cabling and no gigabit switches. On the Web, Futureshop offers a 3 ft Cat6 cable and a couple of gigabit switches. A local Staples by contrast has Cat6 cables in several lengths including 50 ft and gigagbit switches in stock. I still have to go elsewhere to get the box of 1000' of Cat6 that I want, but again I digress...
2. Q: "Hey, Futureshop, how about a 1GB SODIMM for my laptop?" A: "Why would you want a SODIMM that big? 512MB is all you really want."
3. Good luck finding a laptop with a hard disk that spins more than 4200 RPM. I know that the slower disk is adequate and appropriate for a large class of users, but that's all they offer. Frankly, the local Costco offers better laptops than Futureshop. Futureshop has lots to choose from but it's all mediocre home-use stuff. At least at Costco you can get a Tecra.
4. Three iPods sat on display while a magnificent Creative Zen Micro sat hidden at the back of a display case and for the longest time did not even have a shelf sticker with the price. Feature for feature the Zen Micro outclasses the iPod mini (or it did, I haven't checked the updated models), which makes it appel to techno-geeks who will give up some sleekness to gain the best feature list.
Futureshop used to be a "must-visit" place for me when I went to the shopping mall. But no more. Now that once marvelous store has degenerated into Presentshop (Todayshop? Currentshop? whatever...) that appeals more to students, parents, and grandparents on a budget than the techno-geek addict in need of a fix. I no longer feel the pull to go in that I used to experience just walking past the door. I cannot remember the last time anything at Futureshop made me think or say "cool". Have my standards/expectations changed or has the coolness factor been diluted at big box electronics stores as more people get gadgetized?