Which brings up an interesting thought: post Radio Shack, how many places can you walk into and buy electrical components with cash...?
During Radio Shack's glory days, hardware was king. It was a big deal for a young kid to buy a battery, resistor, capacitor, and bulb and make a flashing light. Parents would see that as sign that their child might become an electrical engineer.
Since those days, software has pushed hardware aside. Now, kids accomplish the equivalent of an RC circuit by writing code to flash "Hello World" on a monitor.