Micro Center isn’t enough any more

So, I used to love going to Micro Center. I would always find a bunch of old books I wanted to read, or I could pick up a new cheap component for my crappy frankenstien desktop, or I could just wander and look at all the fancy new laptops. It was always a fun place to kill time.

Now it seems like I go there and then leave, empty-handed, in a worse mood than when I came in. I’m like a drug addict realizing I can’t get high any more no matter how much junk I take.

Today I went there while my wife bought a gift nearby at Babies R Us. First I was disappointed that they shrank the “discount books” wall down to just a tiny shelf. Then I asked and found out they didn’t have any GSM modem stuff. They didn’t have any swipe card readers or thumbprint scanners either. They didn’t even have the neat new open source router. Total waste of time.

Here’s what Micro Center does have:

Employees giving horrifying advice on how to remove spyware programs
Customers spending way too much time asking questions about printer toner compatibility
Classes on how to use Microsoft Word.
Lots and lots of probably bootleg DVDs.
“linux compatible” surge protectors and USB cables.
Nerd BO

If you need those things, go nuts. Anything else, just order it online.

11 thoughts on “Micro Center isn’t enough any more”

amen

For a long time I too would go and browse the discount books. Usually I'd end up leaving with a half dozen or so books. The game center took up that extra book department space. Even the half price bookstore over there is dramatically low on quality stuff.

Hi Dave, thanks for the comment. Yeah, I found that about one in four
books I bought turned out to be worthwhile. I really liked the ones I
got on linux wireless networking and network security, because that is
stuff that I find difficult to learn by skimming man pages.

But the XSLT cookbook was a complete waste, even if it was 75% off.

Yeah,

They have really gone downhill.

Totally agreed here, they have certainly gone downhill!

that's one of the worse things I heard, it seems like they were closing down… what the hell comes out from their minds..

I do like to go to micro centers. I didn’t have similar experiences as you, but reading your article it seems like it’s time to turn back. It seems hopeless now. I’d be giving it a try once more, and if disappointed, won’t bother to leave that.