Radio Shack Commercial...

[PeruvianSkies]

Anyone else see the commercial from Radio Shack where the guy and girl have a fight and when she gets back he took his enormous vinyl collection and coverted it into MP3's on his computer? If this isn't a tell-tale sign of just how backwards RadioShack has become over the years and it's no wonder they are going out of business or at least close to it. This commercial is a direct insult to people who A. love music B. love vinyl.

[N. Abstentia]

Wait a minute...explain further, I have not seen the commercial.

Did she do it because she's pissed at him or did she do it to make up with him? Because the first thing that went through my head was that they had a huge fight so she converted all his vinyl to MP3 as revenge. That would have been funny.

But if it was supposed to be a favor to him...well.....you're right. That's pretty clueless. That's kinda like selling his Ferrari and buying him a lawn mower.

[PeruvianSkies]

Wait a minute...explain further, I have not seen the commercial.

Did she do it because she's pissed at him or did she do it to make up with him? Because the first thing that went through my head was that they had a huge fight so she converted all his vinyl to MP3 as revenge. That would have been funny.

But if it was supposed to be a favor to him...well.....you're right. That's pretty clueless. That's kinda like selling his Ferrari and buying him a lawn mower.

At the beginning of the commercial she looks upset and says something like "we'll talk about this when I get back" and during her time away (seems like a few days) he clears out this rediculous collection of vinyl that takes up just about every sq. ft. of the apartment. When she returns she sees the mess cleaned up and now he has a dock station playing MP3's of his collection.

However, some things are left out. We don't know if they are dating, married, or if they live together or not. My assumption is that they are dating and possibly living together or it's their first place together as newlyweds. Whatever the case, it's rediculous that everything in honky dory when she returns because he sacrificed his collection for the sake of their relationship. My reasons:

1. Society in general has this nasty habit of trying to make people believe that one person needs to 'change' something in order to heal a relationship. That's just not how a healthy relationship functions. People need to talk and communicate to sort out their problems. Also, if she did in fact have issues with his collection maybe she shouldn't moved in with him or it should have been something to discuss, especially if they are in fact married. This points to the many complications of living together and not being married, another thing that society (in general) thinks is OK.

2. The other problem that I have with this commercial deals more with the hobby/music aspect of it. RadioShack is basically riding the latest wave, meanwhile turning their backs on the thing that built them to begin with. To me, this commercial is saying that Vinyl is equal to an MP3 and that there is nothing wrong with consolidating all your vinyl into a small-compact computer or MP3 device. While MP3's can have their convenience points, it's still not the same and the hobby aspect of this is defeated. Part of the joy of things like Vinyl and even to some extent CD's is the shopping for them, the collection of them, the rare imports or the memories that are associated with it.

[emorphien]

Anyone else see the commercial from Radio Shack where the guy and girl have a fight and when she gets back he took his enormous vinyl collection and coverted it into MP3's on his computer? If this isn't a tell-tale sign of just how backwards RadioShack has become over the years and it's no wonder they are going out of business or at least close to it. This commercial is a direct insult to people who A. love music B. love vinyl.

It isn't a direct insult to the majority of their customers.

[PeruvianSkies]

It isn't a direct insult to the majority of their customers.

So that makes it OK?

Well, at one time the majority of the people that went to Radioshack have gone elsewhere and the minority were left...now those minorities make up the majority of people still dedicated to this company. Regardless it shouldn't really matter I happen to think it's a lousy commercial that is a slap-in-the-face to music-lovers, vinyl-lovers, and even people that are non-RadioShack customers. It, once again, shows just why NOT to go there.

[emorphien]

So that makes it OK?

Well, at one time the majority of the people that went to Radioshack have gone elsewhere and the minority were left...now those minorities make up the majority of people still dedicated to this company. Regardless it shouldn't really matter I happen to think it's a lousy commercial that is a slap-in-the-face to music-lovers, vinyl-lovers, and even people that are non-RadioShack customers. It, once again, shows just why NOT to go there.

The average radio shack consumer probably wants the convenience of the iPod over all the vinyl. The average radio shack consumer probably sees that commercial suiting them just fine, or finds it amusing. I found it amusing and stupid, personally. Whatever their customer base used to be, I don't think it is anymore. Hell you can barely get resistors, switches or LEDs there anymore. They're turning in to just another consumer electronics store.

[recoveryone]

I think I seen this commercial, didn't pay much attention to it, but I think the guy had his records all over the place and the girl wanted him to decide between her or the records and he did the next best thing, Converted his collection to Mp3 and got to keep his girl. I didn't get it being a insult, but a person being able to keep both of his passions. and for the post about RS going out of biz, don't hold your breath. RS stock is holding steady, (thanks to the cellular market and Ipod extras)

[PeruvianSkies]

I think I seen this commercial, didn't pay much attention to it, but I think the guy had his records all over the place and the girl wanted him to decide between her or the records and he did the next best thing, Converted his collection to Mp3 and got to keep his girl. I didn't get it being a insult, but a person being able to keep both of his passions. and for the post about RS going out of biz, don't hold your breath. RS stock is holding steady, (thanks to the cellular market and Ipod extras)

and yet, this message is still muddy in my opinion. Because let's say that your perception is 100% correct and that the girl makes him choose between the massive vinyl collection or her. He doesn't want to lose either, so he opts to keep the music, just in a different format. Still a sacrafice, but one that she can live with apparently because she is happy when she comes back to see the mess gone. Ok, fine. So then the message is still a bit crazy simply because here is a guy who obviously loves music and is a collector of such, there is even a guitar shown in the frame, and the fact that he needs to compromise in order to keep her is just absurd. The reality is that he loves music and her issue is probably more with his passion of music and perhaps feeling like the music matters more than her, she can use the large collection as a scapegoat in this case because it takes up too much room and maybe they reconcile in the meantime, but longterm this is not a fix.

I don't really find this nearly as annoying though because it's a commercial and these are not real people, but I think this same situation probably happens often in real life. Therefore RadioShack uses that as leverage for a commercial attempting to show that you can solve your relationship issues with their product and that converting Vinyl into MP3's is a viable way to do so. Again I realize this is a commercial, but the message it gives just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[jrhymeammo]

Sad thing is that I would never sell my CD/LP for a "Lady". But I tell you what's more sad, I didnt get that guys LPs and his racks.

[PeruvianSkies]

Sad thing is that I would never sell my CD/LP for a "Lady". But I tell you what's more sad, I didnt get that guys LPs and his racks.

Nor should you because relationships are about respecting each others interests and they should have come to some sort of a resolution or perhaps compromise on the issue instead of him feeling like he needed to get rid of them in order to keep her. She probably dumped him the next week anyway.

[jrhymeammo]

She probably dumped him the next week anyway.

I'll bet my CD/LP on that

[recoveryone]

Man Skies, you are hard core...lol. Now if you would go over to the Slim Devices forums you may get a whole new take on the ideal of converting your cd/Lp's over to a digital format. Many in their are hard core music fans, but as in the commercial they have run out of room or needed to concede their interest over the wife. Now to them Mp3 is a dirty word, it better be lossless or death. and I would have to admit at a high bitrate (320 and above) you can not tell the diffirence from cd. Now vinyl you may miss the popping but the sound is awesome. So there is a hugh fan base that will identfied with the commerical, d/l music is all the rage for home, portable (mp3 player, cell phones etc...) so if you step back and look around what you would see is just what RS is offering. You can have it all oh let me add this before Pixel reads this IMHO

[pixelthis]

Radio shack is not what it used to be, sadly, all of the fun stuff is crammed into the back,
and NOBODY there knows anything about it.
As for Mp3s, what we need is a player that will handle lossless files like flac or ape,
these are what I use to play music off of my computer and theres no compromise

[DEVO]

Radio Shack is all about accessories (50 point margins) and they are hoping to capitalize on that. MP3 players make no profit what so ever...unless they have an agreement w/ Apple or some of the other places (I doubt it).
Everyone is leaning this way because consumers want convenience. Take it from point A to point B.
Agree, vinyl sound WAY better than any other source, but you can't put one in your car or take it to the park w/ you when you like to bike ride or jog.
Do I agree w/ MP3? NO...don't even have music on my computer...hate compressed audio. But it is a way of life...
I agree w/ pixelthis...find a way to get flac and or ape to these small products so I can play it on my audio system!

[recoveryone]

find way to get flac and or ape to these small products so I can play it on my audio system!

Devo, you have the Pioneer VSX84TXs have you used the sound retriever setting yet? I have the squeeze box and playback my d/l music through it and with that retriever setting on its hard to tell and this is with 128 bitrate Mp3's anything above 210 bitrate is a toss up from the cd. The people over at the slim devices forum about tore my head off when I told them this, but I just quoted the Pioneer manual. They all wanted the technical details on how it work, since you can't replace loss bits to make the sound better. I even did a blind test with the cd and mp3 to see if I could tell the difference. No such luck. If its a poor quality Mp3 you will tell right off but at a good bitrate you may be saying butter and its parkay. I think Pioneer did some type of EQ management thing to enhance the playback of digital music. And Devo their are serveral programs out there that will convert your cd/vinyl over to Flac format files, but anytype of lossless will do. I even tried the MS media player lossless format and it sounded great. You should give it a try.

[gntry55]

I just want to know what the title of the song is that is playing during the commercial and who sings it.

[PeruvianSkies]

I just want to know what the title of the song is that is playing during the commercial and who sings it.

That song is by the Easybeats and it's called "Somethin' wrong", which is an old song from around 1966, then the band broke up. Although I think the commercial might be a group covering the song, so I am not sure the name of the cover band.

[DEVO]

Devo, you have the Pioneer VSX84TXs have you used the sound retriever setting yet? I have the squeeze box and playback my d/l music through it and with that retriever setting on its hard to tell and this is with 128 bitrate Mp3's anything above 210 bitrate is a toss up from the cd. The people over at the slim devices forum about tore my head off when I told them this, but I just quoted the Pioneer manual. They all wanted the technical details on how it work, since you can't replace loss bits to make the sound better. I even did a blind test with the cd and mp3 to see if I could tell the difference. No such luck. If its a poor quality Mp3 you will tell right off but at a good bitrate you may be saying butter and its parkay. I think Pioneer did some type of EQ management thing to enhance the playback of digital music. And Devo their are serveral programs out there that will convert your cd/vinyl over to Flac format files, but anytype of lossless will do. I even tried the MS media player lossless format and it sounded great. You should give it a try.

I've heard of such feature in my receiver, and I've been thinking about doing the Sonos system. http://www.sonos.com/products/sonos_setup.htm I can send a wireless connection to my home theater and then have one for the office and one for the kitchen, I have some spare Sonus Faber Concertino w/ the matching stands:http://www.tnt-audio.com/casse/faber.html

I know they sound good, I just hope that the power from the digital amps can take care of them. I talked to the rep. and "he" said that they could take care of a set of Martin Logan's ESL's which are extremely power hungry. I hope he is right, but I can always pre-out and add my own amp (worst case scenario).

Thanx Recoveryone for your heads up on Pioneer Elite product knowledge. Things are changing ever so quickly it's hard to keep up some times!

[pixelthis]

Radio Shack is all about accessories (50 point margins) and they are hoping to capitalize on that. MP3 players make no profit what so ever...unless they have an agreement w/ Apple or some of the other places (I doubt it).
Everyone is leaning this way because consumers want convenience. Take it from point A to point B.
Agree, vinyl sound WAY better than any other source, but you can't put one in your car or take it to the park w/ you when you like to bike ride or jog.
Do I agree w/ MP3? NO...don't even have music on my computer...hate compressed audio. But it is a way of life...
I agree w/ pixelthis...find a way to get flac and or ape to these small products so I can play it on my audio system!

You're missing out devo, usenet groups have a lot of free content in both ape and flac.
AND the compression programs are free, all you need is a decent sound card (I HAVE A 39$ SOUNDBLASTER USB) and you can store your cd's, with the right compression
you can put a good number on harddrive and cant really tell the difference.
Its a lot less cumbersum than getting out your CDS, running through them, finding what you want...

[Worf101]

Radio shack is not what it used to be, sadly, all of the fun stuff is crammed into the back,
and NOBODY there knows anything about it.
As for Mp3s, what we need is a player that will handle lossless files like flac or ape,
these are what I use to play music off of my computer and theres no compromise

I went to Rat Shack looking for a Double DVI cable and the guy thought I was from mars. Sad situation. Had to wait a couple of day and get one from NewEgg. Sigh. Nope, ain't what they used to be at all.

Da Worfster

[SlumpBuster]

Hey, sorry if I'm a little late to the thread, but I get why PS was originally peeved by this commercial.

Back in the day, RS offered some very high quality high fi-fi equipment. They were a real player. Now they have no hi-fi offerings with only bargain basement stereo equipment available. RS current position regarding hi-fi is analogous to when Ford put a four cylinder engine in the Mustang. It upset alot of enthusiasts. Even if Ford had to retool the entire line for the sake of fuel economy or sales or whatever, you don't mess with the flagship. Leave the aspirational models alone.

RS equivalent, IMHO, was the Mach 1 paired with a sweet receiver. It would not have been difficult for RS to have always maintained a benchmark flagship product pairing like that. Not much floor space would be required in a store that already wastes alot of floor space. It would do wonders for customer loyalty to know that there would always be an affordable flagship hi-fi set up available at RS regardless of what was going on in the rest of the store. Sure, each store might sell less than a half dozen a year, if that. But at least hi-fi could be available to the 10s of millions of Americans that only have a RS or Wal-mart available when it comes to these things.

[DEVO]

You're missing out devo, usenet groups have a lot of free content in both ape and flac.
AND the compression programs are free, all you need is a decent sound card (I HAVE A 39$ SOUNDBLASTER USB) and you can store your cd's, with the right compression
you can put a good number on harddrive and cant really tell the difference.
Its a lot less cumbersum than getting out your CDS, running through them, finding what you want...

Working on it...unfortunetly my home was built in 1905 and is a two story home. So it was not difficult for wiring. That is why the Sonos system is attractive (wireless). Plus we (wife and I) are still doing a lot of remodeling (masterbath & kitchen)

[GMichael]

Hey PS,

I think that RS is just trying to show themselves in a funny (problem solving) manor. A guy who doesn't want to loose his music or his babe has to make a choice. RS comes to his rescue by making it possible for him to choose both. And everyone lives happily ever after. Sure, an MP3 won't sound as good as vinle. But it's just a commercial. Average Joe thinks, what a great idea. Remember, we make up a minority here at AR.

[recoveryone]

I went to Rat Shack looking for a Double DVI cable and the guy thought I was from mars. Sad situation. Had to wait a couple of day and get one from NewEgg. Sigh. Nope, ain't what they used to be at all.

Da Worfster

Worf you should have known better, RS is like going to the swap meet, if you know what your looking for you can find a good deal, but if you have to ask get ready to pull your hair out.

You and I both don't have any to spare....lol

[PeruvianSkies]

But it's just a commercial. Average Joe thinks, what a great idea. Remember, we make up a minority here at AR.

I have to disagree here simply because it is this type of attitude that keeps us in the minority. We just get comfortable accepting things as they are instead of informing people of such things.