Blogs
A Custom Christmas
I don’t know what everyone was worried about this Thanksgiving. Black Friday was slammed. I thought it was going to be a wonderful relaxing...
Post Type blog
Blogs
Good Riddance
The big story of 2008 could have been Blu-ray winning its format war against HD DVD. Or it could have been the painfully slow...
Blogs
The Deadly Xbox Blister Pack
Who would have thought a customer review on Amazon.com could be so entertaining?
Blogs
A World Without Wires …
Twenty years ago, cellphones were few and far between. These days, even 10-year-olds carry them. This makes me wonder: Will the wireless TV be...
Blogs
Ever-Changing And Improving LCD
Thirty-five years ago, Sharp introduced the first LCD calculator. In 2001, Sharp introduced a 10-inch LCD TV for $1,299 and a 20-inch model for...
Blogs
Contrast Ratio — Should Manufacturers Agree On A Measurement Standard?
TV brand marketers often get a bad rap for trying to fool unsuspecting consumers with bogus specifications touting product superiority. But in the case...
Blogs
To Our Tweeter Contributors
During this time of year it is a common practice to try to be generous and kind to your fellow human beings, no matter...
Blogs
A Little Consumer Electronics History
Google’s ongoing project to post books and magazines to the Internet has uncovered a pot of gold for any consumer electronics enthusiast. One can...
Blogs
Cisco ‘Socialism’
An interesting profile of Cisco CEO John Chambers in Fast Company details how he instituted a radical, decentralized, bottom-up approach to product development and...
Blogs
Laws of Physics Don’t Rule the Economy (Unfortunately)
Today, I’d like to talk about Physics, the economy, Black Friday and President-Elect Barack Obama. As a geek whose educational background is Physics, I must...
Blogs
Top 10 Gadgets Of The Year
Time.com makes their suggestion. And, no, Apple’s iPhone 3G was not No. 1. Let the grousing begin.
Blogs
It’s All About Creating A Great Experience
A retailer who wishes to survive and profit in today’s competitive and uncertain business landscape must be able to answer these fundamental questions: What...
Blogs
The $800 Billion Question
Many analysts are poring over Black Friday sales figures and, soon, December returns as if these numbers hold the key to our economic future....
Blogs
Black Friday Better Than Most Expected
Looking at the sales reports from the long Thanksgiving weekend, it looks like retailers in general and consumer electronics in particular did a bit...
Blogs
Sears Importing Top Talent
Help is on the way: “Scott Freidheim, a senior adviser to former Lehman Brothers Holdings Chief Richard Fuld Jr., has found employment at another...
Blogs
The Consequences of the Unintended
One of the greatest results of the consumer technology revolution is that just about everyone can afford a great piece of electronics if they...
Blogs
Tweeter.com Hacked
In case you hadn’t heard, Tweeter has shut all of its stores and apparently filed Chapter 7. Not surprisingly, this has made a lot...
Blogs
Mobile DTV Takes Another Step
A seemingly minor yet important item came out of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) this week in regard to the forthcoming Mobile DTV...
Blogs
Misplaced Audio Priorities?
Retailers’ audio promotion priorities are MP3 players, home theater in a box (HTiB) systems, A/V receivers and MP3-docking speaker systems, in that order, based...
Blogs
Pleasant Black Friday Surprises
Contrary to what you might have thought, given all the gloom and doom, Black Friday retail sales were solid this year. And I saw...
Blogs
This Week’s Sign Of The Coming CE Apocalypse
Joe the Plumber — yes, that Joe the Plumber — is starring in a series of videos on www.velocitystore.com to educate consumers about the...
Blogs
Canon Sees Camera Market Contraction
No huge surprise, but Canon’s president Tsuneji Uchida told Reuters that digital camera unit sales may contract in 2009. Uchida noted that d-SLR sales...
Blogs
Being Thankful
I’m posting this just a couple of days before Thanksgiving and Black Friday, so forgive me if I seem more than a little philosophical....
Blogs
Energy Efficiency
How large a roll will energy efficiency play in future HDTV purchases? In a recent Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) consumer survey, it was noted...
Blogs
Obama Demographics: Lessons For Our Industry
This past week I finally had time to think about some of the implications of the recent presidential election. The election of Mr. Obama...
Blogs
Petters’ Fall From Grace
It’s been a while since we last checked in on L’Affaire de Petters. Here’s what’s developed: Petters girlfriend has given an interview wherein she...
Blogs
’Tis The Season For Holiday Greeting Cards!
No doubt the economy is top of mind for every CE dealer, large or small. Booked custom-installation pipelines are drying up, new business isn’t...
Blogs
Follow TWICE With Facebook
TWICE now has a Facebook page so you can keep up with the latest consumer electronics news while you’re catching up with friends. To...
Blogs
The Need For Green
In this turbulent economy, with energy costs going rising, consumers are more conscious than ever about power consumption in their homes. We’ve also just come...
Blogs
Sirius XM Gets Pounded
As General Motors goes, so goes Sirius XM, or at least that’s what Wall Street thinks, as it’s been punishing Sirius XM stock even...
Blogs
Let Me Be Perfectly Clear
Seems in this day and age, many people have a voice. The Internet makes all seem the same size, the same knowledge and the...
Blogs
Power in Numbers: The Benefits of Joining a Buying Group
During this economic downturn the words strength and power in the marketplace are seldom heard of. However, buying groups give the independent dealer the...
Blogs
Face Detection Evolves
Let’s say you, like me, are ugly (or as I like to say, homely). Well, help is on the way: “Tessera Technologies, Inc. announced...
Blogs
Callpod Sues Target
Callpod, a CE accessory manufacturer, announced yesterday it has filed a lawsuit against Target, alleging “that Target’s ‘6-in-1 device charger’ sold by Target infringes...
Blogs
Marketing To Women: It’s All About R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
“The great question that has never been answered, and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research...
Blogs
The Vinyl Man Cometh, Again
Veteran audio fidelity and music journalist Michael Fremer has just released his second DVD focused on preserving and maximizing the enjoyment of analog audio...
Blogs
Toshiba’s Cool Matrix Ad
For my money, the British make the best technology commercials. A year after the London-based agency Fallon produced this Sony Bravia ad, Toshiba tapped...
Blogs
TWICE State of the Industry, TWICE Mobile
Between Tweeter going out of business, Circuit City closing and doing a liquidation sale at 155 stores and going Chapter 11, three LCD panel...
Blogs
What Readers Are Saying About Specialty A/V Retailing
Several readers posted insightful comments in response to my earlier blog, “What Tweeters May Be Saying About Specialty A/V Retailing.” All of the comments...
Blogs
Home Theater, Rocket Scientists Required?
You know what they say: “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Or what I like to say: “Mother is necessary for invention.” After several...
Blogs
SEMA Met Its Forecasts Despite Slump
A note to depressed car aftermarket suppliers: The 2008 SEMA, (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) Show actually met its forecasts for an attendance of 100,000,...
Blogs
Facebook Faces Its Problems
Here are some excerpts from a white paper from the The Entertainment Technology Center @ USC on what consumers will spend in the coming...