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Comment by pnathan | Hacker News Reader

Thinkgeek has always been really cool. Unfortunately, some time ago they really wound down their Linux-centric products. I really miss that, as I am not really into pop culture, even geeky pop culture. A stuffed Tux mascot is no longer available from ThinkGeek (or, as far as I can tell circa the last time I looked, the general internet).

I hope ThinkGeek does well, but it's refocused its efforts away from my buying interests.

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Agreed. I've watched in dismay as their focus has shifted over the years from "#include <beer.h>" mugs and t-shirts with Larry Wall quotes on them to almost exclusively TV and movie merchandise. From my vantage point, it's not that geek culture has gone mainstream and brought Thinkgeek with it, it's that Thinkgeek has shifted to a more mainstream focus and away from geek culture. Not surprisingly, it's been years since I've ordered anything from them.

Thinkgeek was always kind've pricey. Places like DealExtreme have replaced them for me, at a tenth the price. Sure, I won't have access to NameBrand(tm) branded things... but I look at the hundreds of dollars of stuff I bought at Thinkgeek... and it's all throwaway garbage anyway. The mug that faded on its first trip through the dishwasher; the heat-sensitive coloured putty that lasted all of a couple of days before failing; the usb single-can cooling fridge that doesn't work because there's no insulation and the contact point with the can is miniscule; the list of stuff that looks better on the website than in your hands just goes on and on.

I'm drinking a beer from that exact mug right now

IMO, there has been a merging of marketable elements of geek culture into the mainstream. Merchendise is, above all, sellable, and if you can do it, sellable to a broad audience. In one perspective on the matter, it was inevitable: fans are people highly predisposed to purchase merch; business has a vested interest in boosting sales of branded merch and executing on a spinoff and toy tie-in model.

Popular culture is, quite bluntly, popular, and things like movies have a broad appeal - certainly the drama of life played out on the big screen is more broadly attractive than #include <beer.h>.

All that going to say that it's no real wonder that ThinkGeek "sold out" to double down on profitable merch. I just wish I could still get an 11" Tux to terrify the non-Linux users of my workplace & home.

I completely agree (and I'll avoid starting out by writing 'This.', cause I hate that.)

I've got 15k "geek points" and I'm hard pressed to know what I'd redeem them for...

So, can we get a list of alternatives for nerd (rather than pop-culture geek) shopping? For self and family? (The worst gift I gave my wife was a Micro-Vax one year... But she did like the vintage spectrometer.)

http://shop.momath.org http://adafruit.com http://www.sciplus.com

Was it an actual vintage microvax or are people reproducing FPGA microvaxes now? If it's an FPGA one I'd like to know where to get one so I can play around a bit.

> The worst gift I gave my wife was a Micro-Vax

You have done a service to mankind. "Well it's not like I gave you a MicroVAX" will be the first line of defense at many a geek's house come Christmas morning.

I'm partial to sparkfun.com, makershed.com is also good (less of a focus on embedded electronics than the former).

Wow, I hadn't been on the site in a few years. Kind of sad to see what it's become. Does the world really need another place to buy Big Bang Theory memorabilia?

What's the difference with Star Wars memorabilia?

Was just providing an example. Didn't find it necessary to enumerate all of their products.

I agree; as far as I could tell from shopping for Christmas presents for my wife, ThinkGeek is largely a Dr. Who fan kiosk.

In pursuing a broader audience, surely they're facing more competition?

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