Even though it is not 6502, it is still fun to see the past:

http://archive.org/stream/radio-shack-c ... 0/mode/2up

Yep. I wish I had kept more Radio Shack and maybe other catalogs like Lafayette over the years. At least I kept a few Heathkit ones. I remember a lot of the Radio Shack catalogs and products shown at http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/ . I remember Radio Shack trying to be a professional computer supplier, and having a dedicated part of the store with a more professional-looking salesman in a suit and the sign added "Plus Computer Center" to the usual "Radio Shack". It always seemed a little bit pretending to me.

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http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
The "second front page" is http://wilsonminesco.com/links.html .
What's an additional VIA among friends, anyhow?

Ah, Ye Olde Radio Shack Computer Centers.

Ya know what makes that catalog great? It shows how "All In" Radio Shack was in this business. While the one side of the business was selling parts and stereos, this side was was hitting the home and small business sector full bore. Literally one stop shopping from systems to software to desks and pre-printed forms.

They were selling solutions, off the shelf, CHEAP, and trying to hit the meaty middle of an unsophisticated market.

What they probably lacked most, is a solid professional services arm. They were probably trying too hard to treat this at the storefront rather than bringing the work to the businesses. Obviously this is key to keeping the costs low, but it could have impacted adoption, for as we know, even today (especially today), computers are simply not "easy to use". Integrating an Accounts Payable computer system in to your daily work flow isn't a trivial process.

But, looking back, they had some pretty cutting edge kit. (XENIX on a 6MHz 68K with 3 users for < $10K? That's actually a pretty good deal.)

Kudos to RS. They went for it, full bore, whole hog. They didn't dilly dally around the edges. It was an exciting time.

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x86?  We ain't got no x86.  We don't NEED no stinking x86!