Matriphagy, or mother-eating, is found in the natural world with some species of insects, scorpions and spiders.

Apparently it happens in the electronics world too because the Internet has finally devoured RadioShack. Without RadioShack the Internet would still be locked behind a door at the Pentagon using the alias Arpanet. A generation of geeks in their garages, who claim to have fathered the Internet, needed a reliable partner with a dowry of electronic material necessary to raise a burgeoning network.

RadioShack provided a bounty of affordable electronic components that incubated the experimental embryo in her silicone womb. All the building blocks of artificial life; the transistors, wires, switches and relays engineers needed to develop their youngster were so often sourced from her bosom.

In 2017 after it’s latest round of clearance sales and closings, Mother RadioShack is on life support. Sure, you can cite mismanagement, shifting trends and image problems for the aging component supplier but the real killer is Radio Shack’s own offspring and greatest achievement.

Early on, the Internet changed the traditional Brick and Mortar retail model forever and those who struggle to adapt are eaten alive. The Internet leveled the playing field, allowing small start-up operations anywhere to sell directly to a global market, chopping off the legs of its parents. It’s survival of the fittest and just like Crab Spiders, the young first devour their mother’s legs and then slowly work their way up.

But it’s all to ensure the next generation’s best chance of survival as the mother slowly submits and dies. Fortunately RadioShack’s DNA will live on indefinitely, indelibly imprinted on the Internet. RIP Mother RadioShack.

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