Gizmos, Gadgets and Gimmicks: It’s Home Electronics
These days, the home-electronics industry lives by an uncomplicated rule. Essentially, it requires that every few years the industry shall introduce a Big, Expensive (But Not Too Expensive!) New Thing that everybody decides is necessary to own in order to live a Satisfying, Quality Life.
In the ‘80s, the VCR has been the most classic and profitable example. More recently it has been the compact-disc player.
Jack Wayman, the snow-haired, avuncular traveling apologist for the Electronics Industry Assn., concedes that at the moment there is no such new macro-bauble on the shelves.
But, he hastens to add, this year there are some pretty smart additions to the home-electronics universe.
The other day, Wayman, on his annual industry-sponsored Johnny Appleseed tour of the country, swept through Hartford bearing several large nylon bags stuffed with the latest wave of electronic gewgaws.
Plenty of New Things
“Yes, the industry just now is in search of that one major product to get everyone excited,” Wayman says, rooting through one of the sacks. “But look at all the new things that are coming out.”
He extracts a telephone disguised as a blue high-top sneaker. He regards it admiringly and lays it aside.
“Where’s that . . . ah, here it is.” Wayman pulls out a nifty little Sony portable unit that’s a TV and 8-millimeter video player in one trim chassis about the size of a collegiate dictionary. (Come to think of it, you can also now buy a collegiate dictionary contained within a little calculator-like device with a tiny screen.)
“Portable video,” Wayman says, beaming. “That’s one thing we think is in the future. It’s something that’s going to catch on.” The 8-millimeter video format is smaller than the more established VHS format, and it is starting to take hold, particularly for camcorders and the new portable devices like the one Wayman is toting.
The Sony unit--predictably dubbed Video Walkman--reportedly has been selling well, despite the $1,000 price tag. One of the airlines now distributes the machines to its first-class passengers, and then the flight attendant passes around a basket of movie cassettes to select from.
As for camcorders--the all-in-one video cameras and recorders that now ring the stage three-deep at every suburban elementary school pageant in the nation--Wayman believes that they may yet saturate the market the way VCRs have. But the price has to slide down to $500 or so.
“I think we can get there. You already see the so-called VHS-C (C for compact) units being discounted to something around $650.”
Much More to Tell
But wait--this visit is more to show than to tell, so Wayman is now distributing his wares across the floor.
From this assortment, the next wave of home contrivances includes the following:
* Video still cameras. These unassuming-looking units take up to 50 pictures at a clip and display them on your TV screen. In some quarters, they are considered the video generation’s answer to home slides. Expensive, though--around $900.
* Waterproof things. Boom boxes, radios and speakers are being waterproofed so you don’t have to suffer any loss of fidelity even if there’s a sudden downpour.
* Picture phone. Remember when, back at the 1964 World’s Fair, they told us that picture phones (with moving images) were just around the corner? That was a tad optimistic. But they’re getting there, and these latest phones-with-screens can transmit a sharp, instantaneous still image over the phone line. (The party you’re talking to needs a set, too, naturally.)
* Cellular phones. These are already big, of course, among self-important business people who feel the need to call their offices and bedevil their secretaries while they motor to lunch. But cellular phones (the term refers to the areas, or “cells,” of reception) are increasingly popular among regular people, often as a safety device. Cellular phones are not just for cars, either; new models fit in a coat pocket. If they can keep dropping in price, they just might be the industry’s Next Big Thing.
* Home fax machines. The term “home office” is one that the electronics folks would like you to get used to. One of its centerpieces, the industry tells us, will be a facsimile machine that you can use for personal correspondence as well as business transactions. There is, incidentally, a new portable fax machine that you can use in your car (if you’re not on the phone).
* Hand-held electronic organizers. These are resourceful little babies, resembling overweight calculators, that can store addresses and phone numbers, remind you of your wedding anniversary, keep track of your appointments, assist you in making travel arrangements, record and store your expense-account outlays and rid your thighs of unsightly cellulite.
* Kids’ things. The future holds wristwatch walkie-talkies and radios (not that today’s tykes have ever heard of Dick Tracy), AM-FM necklace radios, and many varieties of spelling and math talking minicomputers.
Also, there’s a “smart” telephone that automatically calls Mom, Dad, police or the fire department when you touch a color-coded pad.
* Etc. Look for VCRs that can be programmed by phone, cordless speakers and headphones, elaborate car-security devices (such as the plush teddy bear that screams for the police when a window or door is jimmied) and hi-fi speakers that mount flush to the wall.
