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paleotn

(22,204 posts)

3. Lots of stuff like that back in the day. Feels like there's less emphasis on such things today.

Reply to LiberalArkie (Original post)

Sun Mar 29, 2026, 09:20 AM

12 hrs ago

I remember "graduating" from tinker toys and lincoln logs to erector sets, Kenner girder and panel, and various and sundry science kits.

They were the mental birthplace of engineers and scientists not simply because we got the kit to work. Some of us wanted to know how and why it worked.

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LiberalArkie

23 replies

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Highlight:

(AI Created voice and images): What Happened To Radioshack's Science Fair Kit? The Toy That Built America's Engineers [View all] LiberalArkie 12 hrs ago OP

I had a crystal radio kit, probably around 1950. 3Hotdogs 12 hrs ago #1

So, I had pretty much every version from their catalog. OldBaldy1701E 12 hrs ago #2

Back in the day. It's a wonder we lived through it. paleotn 12 hrs ago #5

Famous Chevy Nova. Named to appeal to Latinos. No Va. Doesn't Go. usonian 8 hrs ago #17

Lots of stuff like that back in the day. Feels like there's less emphasis on such things today. paleotn 12 hrs ago #3

Makers Maninacan 12 hrs ago #4

AI slop. Please edit your title to reflect this is AI slop, or better yet, pull the entire thing. TIA Celerity 12 hrs ago #6

It literally says AI Generated content right on the screen. LiberalArkie 11 hrs ago #7

IMHO you should disclose that this is AI slop in your OP title. Celerity 11 hrs ago #8

Many kids and teens today build their own gaming rigs Prairie Gates 11 hrs ago #9

My first IBM Clone was from a defective motherboard I bought from Jameco as I could not afford a new one LiberalArkie 4 hrs ago #20

Some of us had a higher risk tolerance (just kidding) usonian 10 hrs ago #10

I have the transistor version of that tube radio. hunter 10 hrs ago #13

I never saw one. usonian 9 hrs ago #14

Yeah, it is curious that there were not more injuries. Disaffected 8 hrs ago #18

There's a lot of ways to electrocute yourself with that. hunter 8 hrs ago #19

Wow, that takes me back. Disaffected 8 hrs ago #16

Radio Shack was far from the only company that made such kits. MineralMan 10 hrs ago #11

Why do people keep hammering this site with AI slop? If it is not inaccurate, it is unethical on account of how it . . . xocetaceans 10 hrs ago #12

I didn't watch the video. I rarely do. hunter 8 hrs ago #15

It was good. LiberalArkie 4 hrs ago #21

I can imagine that the scribes felt the same way when the Gutenberg press came out. And all readers that would read LiberalArkie 4 hrs ago #22

The problem with that comment is that your analogy is faulty. 'AI' is not a means of transmission of ideas: it has . . . xocetaceans 15 min ago #23