Word: vcrs
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...1980s the U.S. had another paranoid, apoplectic fit about a rising Asian power. Twenty years ago, the bad guy wasn't China but an ascendant Japan, which was out to destroy the U.S. with its unfairly well built sedans, VCRs and microchips. The ballooning trade deficit with Japan was the hot-button political issue of the day, just as the yawning deficit with China is today. Japan was using "unfair" trade practices to disadvantage U.S. industry, many Americans believed. The Japanese were "manipulating" their currency, the yen, to make their exports extra cheap in the U.S. market, in the same...
...Beatty says. The layout of the exhibit plays off this idea in a very interesting way. The EVR exhibit, set in the Sert Gallery, appears something like your everyday movie rental store. The movies are stacked on shelves in uniform white cases with descriptions, and there are televisions and VCRs playing movies about the room. You can pick a movie and watch it there, or even check out two videos at a time for up to two days, free of charge. The Blockbuster-esque layout presented a problem for the VES staff in charge of the project...
Ultimately, the company wants to put its optics into ordinary prescription glasses. Unlike other attempts at video goggles, many of which look like mini-VCRs strapped onto a viewer's head, MicroOptical's are light and feature a see-through front panel so you can look ahead when you're not watching your YouTube downloads. But until the gear stops drawing stares from passersby, even that won't be enough. It's still tough bringing sci-fi to the streets...
...this treacherous patch of a new product's path to the mass market "the chasm." Companies typically cross it by getting a foothold in a commercial market until consumers grow accustomed to the technology. The pager, for instance, was used mainly by doctors before everybody else caught on. PCs, VCRs, GPS: each crossed the chasm as the price dropped and their utility became obvious...
...Critics contend that by outlawing the secondary market for everything from VCRs to refrigerators, the law serves as a sop to Japan's large electronics manufacturers. Some of the loudest objections have come from the otaku?particularly video-game collectors, a small but fanatical community supporting a lively trade in classics like All-Star Baseball '97 and Virtua Fighter 2 that only play on older machines. "Worst Law Ever!" screamed Weekly Playboy, a tabloid geared towards young Japanese men. While sellers can submit older products for recertification, and some game platforms?most Nintendo decks, along with later versions of Sony...