As a kid, I somehow obtained a vintage Xerox 860 IPS (awesome once crazy-expensive word processor, which I used to type my resume for my first teen software engineering job), and was missing a small part... and a back corner of Wacky Willy's just happened to have a rare incomplete 850 or two.
Another time, right after I got that job, I was in Wacky Willy's with my brother, and was trying to trade in something for a store T-shirt, saying I worked out by Tektronix/Intel/Sequent/etc., and it would be good advertising (still thinking like a teen, trying to make a deal for something I wanted), and the guy kindly gave me two T-shirts (one for my brother).
Today, eBay fills much of the role of being able to find what you need, and sometimes good deals, and even some browsing fun. (I'd be very sad if eBay went away.) But eBay is not hands-on and physical awe, and of course it's more transactional.
As a kid, I somehow obtained a vintage Xerox 860 IPS (awesome once crazy-expensive word processor, which I used to type my resume for my first teen software engineering job), and was missing a small part... and a back corner of Wacky Willy's just happened to have a rare incomplete 850 or two.
Another time, right after I got that job, I was in Wacky Willy's with my brother, and was trying to trade in something for a store T-shirt, saying I worked out by Tektronix/Intel/Sequent/etc., and it would be good advertising (still thinking like a teen, trying to make a deal for something I wanted), and the guy kindly gave me two T-shirts (one for my brother).
Today, eBay fills much of the role of being able to find what you need, and sometimes good deals, and even some browsing fun. (I'd be very sad if eBay went away.) But eBay is not hands-on and physical awe, and of course it's more transactional.