ratscloset posted at 5:16AM Wed, 06 January 2021 - #4409516

Oh you young whipper snappers....

Hey now! :)

I remember when if you wanted a computer, and weren't willing to build it yourself, you had to go to some shady Mom and Pop store and have them build it for you. Even if you were going to do your own work, you had to go to them to buy at least some of the parts. At which point they'd pull out the mystical analog all text catalog to find the prices of the parts... Which they couldn't guarantee until the parts actually showed up.

If you wanted to buy software / games you had three choices... Order by mail... Find one of the bookstores that also sold software... Or go to the mall for the Software Etc, Babbage's, Electronics Boutique, CompUSA, or Egghead.

I can picture the bookstores with the false interior walls to separate the software, so that it wouldn't be stolen. I can't remember the store names to save my life, but remember exactly where they were... And what it was like to pick through the shelves of mostly unorganized boxes.