Beautiful Disaster: An Ode To Fry’s Electronics

Video Version: Beautiful Disaster: An Ode To Fry’s Electronics

The CZ motorcycle is a beast.

It stands at least 10 feet high from my 4 year-old vantage point

Usually my dad climbs on-top,

grabs the clutch and gas,

readies himself to tame the monster.

He kickstarts the CZ, it spits and roars.

Like it wants to go without him.

But he’s in control.

Always in control.

He taps the brake to disengage

He eases the gas to move forward

The beast obliges.

By the time my dad is roaring out of the driveway,

He and the beast are one.

He test rides it up the street and it makes so much noise,

Ladies come out of their houses

They yell at him to “cool it!”.

But today the beast will not awaken.

He can’t get it to start.

I watch my dad from the safety of my MTD-410 red wagon.

He rolls the CZ 400cc dirt bike out of the garage

He is going to tinker with it.

He unrolls a surplus US Military tool belt,

It is filled with the perfect sized wrenches to fit the various bolts on the bike.

He begins to work.

— -

My dad brings home blank green-bar paper from his job At Hughes Aircraft.

He gives it to us use for drawing

With pens and crayons The paper, he says, is used by their computer printers

I’m fascinated by the holes on each side.

Used to feed through the printer

They pull-off to make confetti. Sometimes the paper is not completely blank. Sometimes there are symbols printed on it In faint, 8-section digital print.

In those blocky symbols. I think I see the future.

— -

My dad fixes his motorcycles himself.

In the middle of the driveway

When he needs parts, he jumps into the White International Pick-up He drives to a set of shops near the corner of Hawthorne and 190th. Or to a store in the strip mall on Torrance blvd. Or sometimes to the Kawasaki store on Artesia near Green. He talks to the owners, and finds what he needs. Then he goes back to the driveway And works on his machines.

He finesses the tools.

A few “fcks and shts and g*ddammits” invested

Until everything works again.

Then he tests the bikes up the hill And the ladies yell out their windows again. For him to “cool it!”

He rides back into the driveway

He pulls of his white Scott helmet

He beams with a smile

I’m not sure he’s felt a better day in his entire life

— -

I watch my dad ride motorcycles in the desert. I do not ride myself, not yet anyway. The only motorcycles ever I’ve driven

Are my Eval Knieval wind-up cycle made by Ideal toys. And the Atari Stunt Cycle machine on at the arcade at Old Town Mall.

— -

From the 1950’s to the 1990’s

As the South Bay Is the center of Aerospace technology in Southern California

And as the 80’s home computer industry booms Computer stores pop-up

All around the cities

To serve the pastime of the engineers

Computerland

Simply Software

Software Centre

Radio Shack

B Dalton Software

Some exist in the same strip malls

That hold motorcycle shops

My favorite is HW computers on Artesia in Redondo Beach next to a coin laundry.

I spend many hours inside that store,

gazing at the software packages

Hoping to one day have a computer of my own.

— -

My dad breaks his collar-bone in desert race in about 1980

After that, the motorcycles come out fewer and fewer times

By the end of the decade they sit-still in the garage. I notice that many of the motorcycle shops he frequented

Are closing too. Dirt bikes for weekend enduro riders Give-way to sleek street bikes.

Named after ancient warriors They are so complicated

That they can, mostly-only

Be repaired

By official dealers.

— -

In1983 I finally get a computer of my own.

My twin brother sits next to me

As we map out our next step

One byte at a time.

I write my first BASIC program and save it to my own 5.25” floppy disk.

I think I see the future

I don’t think I’ve felt a better day in my entire life.

— -

After the Berlin wall falls

After my dad “retires” from Hughes

With his award for the “peace dividend” being a kick out the door

He takes my brother and I riding motorcycles with him one more time To get us away from our computers

To Lake El Mirage I watch him riding free and easy for the first time in years

I love it too,

But I fall and hurt my knee

My dad says he will get me padded pants

But the few stores that exist don’t carry all the products they used to And for some reason, we never go again.

— -

I discover Fry’s Electronics in the early 1990’s

Just out of college at my first job with TSX Solutions located at 300 Parkview In Manhattan Beach.

It is within lunch walking distance. Up the hill towards the mall

Across the parking lot in front of the Mann 6 Down the stairway to the train tracks

Up the will on the other side

Inside is a wonderland for computer nerds

More things than I ever thought existed or could possibly imagine

I leave empty handed and stunned

I will be back

— -

Fry’s electronics opened in 1986 in the Silicon Valley by the Fry brothers

David, john, Randy

They are the sons of Bay Area supermarket entrepreneur Charles Fry.

Selling computers and computer parts the mass of engineers

Its’ no nonsense style with cheap prices and necessities

Is a hit with the frugal engineers of a struggling industry looking for the next big thing.

“The premiere nerd hangout is Fry’s Electronics, a hygge electronics/convenience store in Sunnyvale. Next to Apple Macs and IBM PCs are cans of Jolt. ‘All the sugar, twice the caffeine’, Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes, and 14 different types of tortilla and potato chips”

-“Nerds Seek Popularity in Silicon Valley Social Circles” Lodi News Sentinel, Feb 26, 1988

As the locations of Fry’s spread, most incorporate themes.

NASA Space, Alice In Wonderland, etc.

The Fry’s in Manhattan Beach is small.

There is a water-feature left-over in the atrium

From the office building that came before

So I guess that’s why it is Hawaiian themed

You’d never get away with that theme now

Tiki statues mixed with men in white collars carrying 14.4K modems in one hand

And SVGA graphics cards in the other

This is the early-90’s

An island before the storm.

— -

I visit Fry’s at least 3 or 4 times a week.

It’s Messy, DIY, scattered, crazy

I look for parts for our 386-DX40

Fry’s doesn’t drive the tech industry so much as mirror-it.

Aisles upon aisles of software,

Memory, CPUs peripherals,

Nerds.

The check-out lane passes through racks of soda, chips, candy,

tech and men’s magazines

deodorant.

When I get to the front of the line,

25 cash registers greet me

I stand alert waiting to hear A number called out

My lure to the altar

— -

“Known as a techie retail paradise, Fry’s Electronics Inc. has built a reputation on stocking gobs of PCs, printers, software, peripherals, and other ‘must-haves” such as potato chips, soda and No-Doz, for those hopelessly glued to their computer tubes. In just one decade that odd formula has elevated Fry’s into a powerful industry player”

-“Fry’s Is Successful Despite Mystery”, Lodi News Sentinel, Jan. 2 1997

The internet boom of the late 90’s explodes the Silicon Valley

And inside Fry’s And even in the cities along the Santa Monica Bay

People need computers to get to Lycos and Web Crawler

They need to load Netscape Navigator To visit The Church Of Mentos

And CHiPs Online

Windows 98 and DirectX make games actually work

Doom 2, Quake, Halflife, Roller Coaster Tycoon

The checkout lane snakes around the store,

More than just nerds

People of all types

Clutching whatever they can find To commune with the tech revolution

With 50 registers to ring them up

Then a guy in a vest behind a pedestal

Checks my receipts On the

Way

Out.

A priest at the altar checking my confessions at the door

— -

We buy my dad a computer A Pentium

It sits idle in his room

He shuffles by it

Just like he shuffles by the now-dormant bikes in his garage

Even a CD-ROM copy of Motocross Madness Can’t force him to the digital world.

He lays on his bed.

He reads the Bible often now. His mortality is on display One day he removes the Pentium from his room

“it’s giving him migraines” he says

“I think it’s evil” he tells me

But I don’t think he’s ever turned it on

— -

Into the 2000’s

With all 50 registers ringing

A line stretches back to the end of Fry’s electronics.

It feels like the dream will never end.

The “computer store” that I fell in-love with as a kid

Is now the “everybody store”.

For the first time in my life

I feel my nerdom become mainstream.

I watch in awe.

I think this is the future.

— -

In 2004

I decide to build a computer for my kids.

From scratch.

I go to Fry’s to buy everything I need:

Motherboard

Power Supply

Drive controller

Hard Drive

3.5 inch floppy drive

Network card

CD-ROM drive

I stand in a line 10 people deep to request

CPU and Memory

I carry what I can to checkout and wait patiently as the expensive microchips are taken from the big cage behind the cash registers.

I carry it all in two plastic Fry’s bags,

I sit down at the kitchen table and read the manual for the motherboard.

It tells me which jumpers to pull.

I get needle nose pliers and a tiny screwdriver

I open the case and start to work.

I add an old modem, mouse and keyboard and an OEM version of Windows 98 I have laying around and put it all into the guts of a salvaged mini-tower case.

A few “fcks and shts and g*ddammit” invested.

As my kids watch on.

A couple more trips to Fry’s to get things I forgot. :

Another memory chip,

A harddrive cable

I build the whole thing in one day.

In my kitchen in North Redondo.

I visibly wince as I flip the power switch.

I’m half-expecting an explosion.

But the bios boots which means I’ve done something right.

The harddrive formats okay too.

All Looks good.

I install Windows and it finishes close to 8:00 at night.

My little kids watch as

I load-up the “Disney Winnie The Pooh” CD-ROM.

I heard squeals with delight

I stand back and look at the scene.

The SVGA CRT monitor glowing brightly on their faces

As the late summer sun sets.

Tigger sings a song I’ve heard a million times from the DVD

One I’ll hear a million times more.

Then I think

I did this.

I don’t think I’ve felt a better day in my entire life.

—

2007 the iPhone is birthed

2010 the iPad arrives 2011 the Mobile revolution takes over

Everything comes in small packages

With few user-serviceable parts

People are saying the computer is dead

Fry’s tries to pivot

My dad succumbs to dementia

My brother and I watch his ashes spread from a plane Over El Mirage

I fall out of my “big tech” job, rudderless to find what’s next

I buy a laptop from an online store and become a digital nomad

Working at whatever I can, anywhere I can

No money for leisure

No time to tinker

It’s years before I’m back in Fry’s

— -

“Important: Do not open the Apple Product. Opening the Apple Product may cause damage that is not covered by this Warranty. Only Apple or an AASP should perform service on this Apple Product.”

— -

Netflix streams

Steam rises

Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo open digital stores

Disney goes Plus.

Fry’s sells physical things to physical people

CDs. DVDs. Software.

Their stock dwindles

Too many boxes on the shelf have “return slips” attached

The lines get shorter and shorter

50 cash registers remain

But most are just tombstones

Who needs to buy parts When your warranty is voided

For trying to fix it yourself?

When the future actually arrives and it’s not what I expected at all

— -

“Fry’s Electronics Inc., the go-to chain for tech tinkerers looking for an obscure part, is closing for good. The company, perhaps even more well-known for outlandish themes at some of itl;s locations, from Aztec to Alice In Wonderland, said Wednesday that the COVID-19 pandemic had made it impossible to continue. Operations have ceased, and the wind-down of locations will begin immediately.”

-Fry’s electronics To Shut, Saying Pandemic Worsened it’s Struggles.

Associated Press, Feb 26, 2021

The last time I go to Fry’s is in 2020

It’s more like Big Lots or TJ Maxx than an electronics store

I take a photo of all they offer

It’s the end of the entire PC computer software era

A small endcap with some shovelware, and that’s it.

— -

The Fry’s Electronics building sits empty now.

Part of the Manhattan Village remodel.

The sign removed but the shadow still remains

— -

September 2023

I’m writing a story just like this one and my laptop crashes

No joke.

The HDD has bad sectors

Windows 11 gives me the blue-screen of death

I get random warnings of memory errors

I have an extended warranty, but they are more hassle than value

I back-up what I can, and resign myself to buying a new laptop

But I stop. I think back to that day in 2002 When my kids first played a CD-ROM on a computer I made for them with parts from Fry’s Electronics

How far I’ve fallen.

I search youtube for information about my laptop I find a video on how to add a new SSD drive How to upgrade the memory How to configure Windows 11

I buy the parts for $100 on Amazon.

Not Fry’s, but the next best thing.

I get my tiny screwdriver and needle nose pliers and open the machine

I put on my +3 reading glasses so I can see what is what.

“Maybe my extended warranty is voided now?”

I don’t really care I replace all the parts myself.

It takes 20 minutes

I wince as I plug in the power cord

½ expecting it to explode

But it does not

I reboot the machine

Everything works perfectly.

I pause and think

About dirt bikes and motorcycle shops

About computer stores and software packages

About driveways and test rides and ladies yelling “cool it!”

About 50 cash registers and snaking lines,

About El Mirage and a cloud of ashes

About the priest at the altar checking my confessions at the door

I don’t think I’ve felt a better day in my entire life.

— -

See the video version of this story here: Video Version: Beautiful Disaster: An Ode To Fry’s Electronics