Word: compacter
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...Gorbachev took office in 1985, the Soviets intensified the war and appeared to gain ground. Deadly Mi-24 helicopters and elite Spetsnaz commando units regularly ambushed rebel units and supply caravans with devastating effect: mujahedin casualties rose to all-time highs. Then the Reagan Administration began shipping Stingers, those compact but lethal antiaircraft missiles, to the guerrillas. Soon the air war turned around. By one conservative estimate, the Soviets last year alone lost 270 aircraft worth about $2.2 billion...
...immediate threat or sweat. But for people who like to own movies, who bought any of the 35.4 million theatrical films sold on cassette in 1987, who spent any fraction of the $637.2 million raked in by video distributors, a fresh temptation is at hand. Laser videodiscs, compact discs with pictures, have such a clear picture and such a rush of sound that they make even the best-quality videotapes look shoddy. In many cases they are as good as what is onscreen at the local multiplex. Sometimes they are better...
Laser uses the same basic technology as CDs and delivers the same clarity and impact. Laser players (which start in the U.S. for a little over $400) have friendlier features than VCRs, and the latest models -- "combi machines" -- can play both compact and laser discs. These newly available combis will likely heat up the laser market even further. In Japan, where the laser business is now valued at $1.5 billion, the major electronics companies are gearing up for a grand-scale manufacturing push, and Sony will start to sell its laser-disc player in the U.S. this spring...
...cassette looks similar to a standard tape but is about half as large and has a much clearer, sharper sound. Like the compact disc, DAT is the product of a digital recording method that uses computer chips to break sound down into billions of bits of information, which are stored on magnetic tape. The process reproduces sound more faithfully and with less background hiss and crackling than traditional analog recording techniques...
...fight against DAT. They fear that home taping will ruin their lucrative CD business. As a modest concession to the recording industry's concerns, several DAT manufacturers are considering a special electronic system called Solo in their machines. Consumers will be able to make a digital tape of a compact disc but will not be able to duplicate that tape...