Welcome to TWICE’s 20th Anniversary issue.
Yes, you can say that this issue has been 20 years in the making, but we actually began to sketch out plans as to how to celebrate this milestone around a year ago, culminating with a furious burst of activity over the past week or so.
As you can see this special issue of TWICE is a little different for us: it’s not about news. It’s about what has happened in the past, with a view towards the present and the future.
First off we are taking a year-by-year look at the past and a look ahead through the eyes of the best staff covering the industry today, our own editors.
Also throughout the issue you’ll get the views and opinions of a group of newsmakers who have graced our pages over the years, who I call our “TWICE Anniversary Pundits.” These top executives will be answering four key questions:
- Which is the most ground-breaking CE product introduced since 1986?
- Which consumer electronics product can’t you live without?
- What is your most memorable industry moment during the past 20 years?
- What CE product are you most eager to see invented in the future?
We think you will find their answers thought-provoking, insightful and in some cases entertaining.
We will also compare TWICE’s first-ever Retail Registry of Leading Retailers published in 1988 vs. this year’s list; what the major appliance business was like back in 1990 when TWICE first began covering that industry; and we have reprinted our cover from September 17, 2001 and what we saw out of our office windows on September 11.
We will celebrate our 20th anniversary along with the 40th anniversary of the first Consumer Electronics Show on October 15 during the Consumer Electronics Association’s Industry Forum being held at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel. To mark both anniversaries we are re-printing a feature by founding editor Bob Gerson about the first CES in 1967. And CEA’s Karen Chupka and Todd Thibodeaux looked into their crystal ball to tell us what CES in 2027 might be like.
Speaking of Mr. Gerson, he has written a column to mark the occasion, along with columns by founding publisher Richard Ekstract and our publisher Marcia Grand.
Youth, or relative youth, must also be served. Senior editor Doug Olenick graduated from college in 1986 and wrote a story about technology in college dorms 20 years ago. New assistant editor and recent college graduate Colleen Bohen, wrote a column about the technology in her dorm.
Speaking of our staff, take a look at the box on the right hand side of this page. My thanks to everyone listed in that staff box, starting with our publisher Marcia Grand. Day in and day out this is probably the finest group of editors, salespeople, publishing managers and executives I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.
My thanks also go to all the former TWICE staffers I have worked with over the past 13 years, Reed Business Information executives who have supported our efforts, the numerous freelance writers who have contributed to TWICE, freelance graphic artists, especially Desiree Nunez who has worked with us for more than a decade, and of course photographer Alan Perlman, who has freelanced for TWICE just about from the beginning.
But this anniversary issue isn’t about us. It’s about the industry we cover, namely you, our loyal readers. Our thanks go to you for your help, support and encouragement over the years. Without you TWICE would not be nearly as effective as we have been over the years in being a straight, factual source of the industry’s news and trends.
So enjoy this review of the past 20 years. We’ll be back next week with our usual mix of news, analysis and trends of the most exciting and important industry in the world.
