Actually, his experience is the standard PC enthusiast experience for the vast majority of DIY'ers in many nations. And is now subject to threat if businesses catering to consumers shut-down.
I have to genuinely question this. I haven't heard of anyone I know buying PC components at a physical store in like 20 years, and I know people from various nations.
Which is why they shut down - the addressable market of people having an emergency need for an item from a limited selection of electronics isn't that big, and that's becoming the only market.
It's not your fault that you don't want to pay over the odds for everything when you're not in a rush, and it's not their fault they need to pay commercial rent, utilities, payroll, insurance and all the other overheads.
But the outcome is simply that staffed local physical shops have a lower efficiency ceiling in terms of getting items to customers.
Even normal folks upgrade RAM. My aunt did so last year for her old desktop PC. PC components are available in the local computer hardware market of any nation. (Though admittedly, most people buy parts online nowadays and local hardware markets are shutting down)
No. I'm a PC enthusiast myself, as are most of those people I know. I run an online (PC) gaming community.
> (Though admittedly most people nowadays just buy online and local hardware markets are shutting down)
Literally what I was saying.
You have to take into account that same day delivery from amazon and the likes is only a real thing in the USA. Most other markets do not have the same service, even with accounts such as Amazon Prime. There is only one online store I know that is providing same day delivery in my area in Spain and it is a physical (and rather expensive) chain, El Corte Inglés.
And it is available in other countries.
I'd love to see more market-style parts locations a la Huaqiang or Akiahabara
That MicroCenter continues to exist tells me that there's at least enough people shopping for parts in meatspace that there's net revenue to be had.
Yes, Microcenter "exists", but primarily through selective cultivation of their locations. From a pure market footprint perspective, they are outclassed by a candle company, and many other niche businesses.
At no point was I entirely denying that some people go to physical stores to buy components. I was just countering the idea that a majority of people do so, as opposed to ordering online.