I still have an unused Ansett ticket somewhere - Adelaide to Melbourne Return. I saw it some time back and reminisced slightly over the days of carbon paper, real printers with hammers, and other things that are now extinct, like corporate pride and customer service …
Of all the sad stories in business Dick Smith is the one that really hit home to me. From many years as a true electronics hobbyist store where you could buy discrete components to build circuits, to kits, and in most stores wind the knob on a Yaesu or the like (I think that was the brand they favoured? it didn’t matter - real radios and staff who knew how to call CQ ! 
) slowly but surely over the years (post Dick’s leadership) descending into being a purveyor of cheap consumer crap from China and scarcely a 555 timer in sight …
Some people enjoy surfing the waves, some enjoy the swim, but one thing seems for certain - we’re all headed for the S-bend …
