Post by dkennedy on Jan 20, 2006 8:06:09 GMT -5
Practice and a plan help in acquiring hi-def TV
January 20, 2006
By Mark McGuire, Albany Times Union
I have lost yet another battle in the "I Want/Need a Hi-Def TV" War.
I recently asked a senior editor for a cutting-edge television, so I could "keep up with the technology." You know, for the job.
"You're lucky the company will pay for the air in the building this year," he said sardonically. Look, I'm just grateful this newspaper is still paying for pens (and, more importantly, TV columnists).
But my wife -- my sweet, lovely, compassionate (too thick? I'll stop now) life partner -- is tougher than any office dweller with purchasing power.
You think it's hard squeezing a new stapler out of your employer? Try getting my wife to put the stamp of approval on the procurement of a 42-inch hi-def Sony.
Her first response was, "Are you serious?"
I thought about my next salvo (it would be just $100 a month, plus tax and interest for only two or so years) but then decided to say nothing.
"No," she said. Then she said it eight more times. I counted.
I really think she means it.
I'm bad at this, so I guess I'll teach. Learn from my mistakes, people, and start with a plan. If you don't want to watch the game on your 1991-vintage 27-incher, you can't just wing it.
First, find a few grand you don't need for household expenses, your children's education or your retirement. Done? OK, next: As I see it, you have three great cards to play if such a high-end purchase is a negotiated line item in your household:
* You got shut out at Christmas. Of course, you appreciate those ties and socks. Who wouldn't? So don't express bitterness or disappointment at not getting a top-notch TV. Rather, pitch your holiday haul as an obvious and rectifiable oversight that you're more than willing to forgive.
"The buzz is (there) for those people who did not get a TV for Christmas," said Heather Waalkes, manager of Hippo's Home Entertainment in Albany.
OK, I'm all for catching that buzz, but we know that's not going to work in and of itself. But it's something to build on, especially when you play the next card.
* The Super Bowl is coming up! You just have to see football in high definition to really appreciate the climax of the football season.
For most fans in these parts, this might be a tough sell this year. The change-up: "But the Broncos, Seahawks, Panthers and Steelers are my second through fifth favorite teams! I can't believe you didn't know that. I'm hurt. (Pause.) It's like you don't know me anymore."
Local retailers say the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl -- referred to as "The Big Game" in advertisements due to copyright concerns -- follows only the Christmas season in terms of TV sales.
Father's Day is another biggie. Are you seeing the trend here?
According to a Consumer Electronics Association study released last month, men are "personally involved" in 63 percent of all high-definition TV purchases for the home. Women are involved in only 36 percent of such buys.
But I insist this isn't just a guy thing. To name-check Sigmund Freud -- who probably wouldn't have laid the foundation of modern psychiatry if he'd had a Toshiba 50HP95 50-inch HD Plasma TV in his den -- it's really about what women want.
That's the trump card to play when you lay down:
* But you haven't lived until you've seen figure skating in hi def. The Olympics don't usually propel television sales. "I would suspect we would get a little bump," said Paul DeMilio, manager at Towne TV Audio & Appliances in Schenectady, "but not a lot."
Well, maybe that's because men haven't been approaching things the right way. Sure, high definition significantly enhances the viewing of football, NASCAR, hockey and the like. But it's truly transcendent to watch a skater pull off a triple axel into a Lutz, capped by a double Salchow into a layback spin. We're talking art, the poetry of ballet coupled with the beauty of a Mozart concerto, all with the dazzling brilliance of a Tahitian sunset.
If you can read the last two sentences with a straight face, you might -- might -- get your significant other into the store. But now comes maybe the most important part of closing the deal:
* Have a plan -- and rehearse it ahead of time with your sales person. DeMilio tells the inspiring true story of a man who called the store with a detailed sales pitch he wanted given to him when he came in later with his wife:
1. The salesperson was to show the couple the biggest LCD TV the store carried: a 60-inch Sony.
2. When the wife dismissed that out of hand, the salesperson would move on to a 55-inch model.
3. When that got shot down, the couple would be brought around the corner to see the 50-inch model, emphasizing this is one of the smallest Sony makes. This is a lie, but let's move on.
4. The moment of truth, so to speak, would arrive as the salesperson launches into a lukewarm pitch for the 50-incher -- while attempting to hide a nearby 42-inch model.
5. When discovered, the salesperson would sheepishly and dismissively show her the "small" TV, and continue pitching a bigger model.
When this little drama was actually acted out, the wife wasn't swayed: "That's the one you're getting," she told her husband, pointing to the 42-inch Sony.
And that's how he got the TV he wanted all along.
We thank you and honor you, sir, wherever you are.
Even if you're watching figure skating.
TiVo tutorial
The two-hour season premiere of "24" -- delayed 10 minutes Sunday by the NFL playoffs on Fox running long -- provided a valuable lesson/reminder to anyone who digitally records programs in advance:
Always record the next program on the schedule, too. Just ask anyone who ended up missing the tail end of the premiere.
January 20, 2006
By Mark McGuire, Albany Times Union
I have lost yet another battle in the "I Want/Need a Hi-Def TV" War.
I recently asked a senior editor for a cutting-edge television, so I could "keep up with the technology." You know, for the job.
"You're lucky the company will pay for the air in the building this year," he said sardonically. Look, I'm just grateful this newspaper is still paying for pens (and, more importantly, TV columnists).
But my wife -- my sweet, lovely, compassionate (too thick? I'll stop now) life partner -- is tougher than any office dweller with purchasing power.
You think it's hard squeezing a new stapler out of your employer? Try getting my wife to put the stamp of approval on the procurement of a 42-inch hi-def Sony.
Her first response was, "Are you serious?"
I thought about my next salvo (it would be just $100 a month, plus tax and interest for only two or so years) but then decided to say nothing.
"No," she said. Then she said it eight more times. I counted.
I really think she means it.
I'm bad at this, so I guess I'll teach. Learn from my mistakes, people, and start with a plan. If you don't want to watch the game on your 1991-vintage 27-incher, you can't just wing it.
First, find a few grand you don't need for household expenses, your children's education or your retirement. Done? OK, next: As I see it, you have three great cards to play if such a high-end purchase is a negotiated line item in your household:
* You got shut out at Christmas. Of course, you appreciate those ties and socks. Who wouldn't? So don't express bitterness or disappointment at not getting a top-notch TV. Rather, pitch your holiday haul as an obvious and rectifiable oversight that you're more than willing to forgive.
"The buzz is (there) for those people who did not get a TV for Christmas," said Heather Waalkes, manager of Hippo's Home Entertainment in Albany.
OK, I'm all for catching that buzz, but we know that's not going to work in and of itself. But it's something to build on, especially when you play the next card.
* The Super Bowl is coming up! You just have to see football in high definition to really appreciate the climax of the football season.
For most fans in these parts, this might be a tough sell this year. The change-up: "But the Broncos, Seahawks, Panthers and Steelers are my second through fifth favorite teams! I can't believe you didn't know that. I'm hurt. (Pause.) It's like you don't know me anymore."
Local retailers say the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl -- referred to as "The Big Game" in advertisements due to copyright concerns -- follows only the Christmas season in terms of TV sales.
Father's Day is another biggie. Are you seeing the trend here?
According to a Consumer Electronics Association study released last month, men are "personally involved" in 63 percent of all high-definition TV purchases for the home. Women are involved in only 36 percent of such buys.
But I insist this isn't just a guy thing. To name-check Sigmund Freud -- who probably wouldn't have laid the foundation of modern psychiatry if he'd had a Toshiba 50HP95 50-inch HD Plasma TV in his den -- it's really about what women want.
That's the trump card to play when you lay down:
* But you haven't lived until you've seen figure skating in hi def. The Olympics don't usually propel television sales. "I would suspect we would get a little bump," said Paul DeMilio, manager at Towne TV Audio & Appliances in Schenectady, "but not a lot."
Well, maybe that's because men haven't been approaching things the right way. Sure, high definition significantly enhances the viewing of football, NASCAR, hockey and the like. But it's truly transcendent to watch a skater pull off a triple axel into a Lutz, capped by a double Salchow into a layback spin. We're talking art, the poetry of ballet coupled with the beauty of a Mozart concerto, all with the dazzling brilliance of a Tahitian sunset.
If you can read the last two sentences with a straight face, you might -- might -- get your significant other into the store. But now comes maybe the most important part of closing the deal:
* Have a plan -- and rehearse it ahead of time with your sales person. DeMilio tells the inspiring true story of a man who called the store with a detailed sales pitch he wanted given to him when he came in later with his wife:
1. The salesperson was to show the couple the biggest LCD TV the store carried: a 60-inch Sony.
2. When the wife dismissed that out of hand, the salesperson would move on to a 55-inch model.
3. When that got shot down, the couple would be brought around the corner to see the 50-inch model, emphasizing this is one of the smallest Sony makes. This is a lie, but let's move on.
4. The moment of truth, so to speak, would arrive as the salesperson launches into a lukewarm pitch for the 50-incher -- while attempting to hide a nearby 42-inch model.
5. When discovered, the salesperson would sheepishly and dismissively show her the "small" TV, and continue pitching a bigger model.
When this little drama was actually acted out, the wife wasn't swayed: "That's the one you're getting," she told her husband, pointing to the 42-inch Sony.
And that's how he got the TV he wanted all along.
We thank you and honor you, sir, wherever you are.
Even if you're watching figure skating.
TiVo tutorial
The two-hour season premiere of "24" -- delayed 10 minutes Sunday by the NFL playoffs on Fox running long -- provided a valuable lesson/reminder to anyone who digitally records programs in advance:
Always record the next program on the schedule, too. Just ask anyone who ended up missing the tail end of the premiere.