Research sez economic troubles will increase at-home entertainment sales
By Darren Murph 
posted Oct 29th 2008 7:59AM
posted Oct 29th 2008 7:59AM
[Image courtesy of AT&T]
posted Oct 29th 2008 7:59AM
The amount of electronics thrown away rather than recycled in 2007.
The EPA reports that 82% of electronics disposal in 2007 ended up in the garbage (mostly landfills) rather than a recycling center. (source: EPA, July 2008)
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It's just more BS from the paid optimists.
First of all it's true that home entertainment gets more use during a recession, obviously that's correct.
But self-evidently it's a case of people making more use of the home entertainment stuff they already have
(ie people making the most of what they already have).
The exception might be that a big TV might just gets more of a look in seeing as how people are addicted to the telly - but even there the reports are of sales down and production being cut
(EngadgetHD recently reported production is being slashed and every news outlet bar none is reporting consumer sales down & consumer confidence at a low).
The one glaring element absent from these analysts and their amazing projections is the basic fundamental reality underlying this particular (and one might say unique) recession.....
.....most people are already up to their necks in debt and the banks, in case you missed it, won't even lend to each other, nevermind heavily indebted private individuals whose one major asset - their house, if they have one - is depreciating in value very heavily.
The recent fall in the price of oil (which is completely based on the understanding that global economic activity is set to plummet) does nothing to alleviate the huge levels of private debt so many people are carrying cross the sc-called developed world.
OK....so we're all broke...No ski trip this Winter and no European vacation next Summer. The question is what the heck are we going to do to entertain ourselves until this economic nightmare ends?
My suggestion......convert a room in your house into a Home Theater! I AM NOT CRAZY It's not as expensive as you think! You can buy a HDTV projector for $1,000, a screen for @250 add a HDMI cable and you have a Home Theater in your house.
www.BuildYourOwnTheater.com
Great idea, or you could spend the money on your vacation!
People are going to pay the bare minimum to have an enjoyable home entertainment system. They might upgrade their TVs, but it'll be to change that aging SD CRT into a 32" LCD 768p TV. They might possibly upgrade their sound systems, but most likely they'll stick with what they've got if they already have one.
BD players? Uh, no. Once you watch DVD on an HDTV you find it hard to understand what the big deal is about HD video discs unless you happen to watch a very good HD video disc, and even then it seems a tad overblown until you get used to it.
What people might spend money on over and above the TV is the extra $10 a month to get HD cable or satellite and a good movie channel. The visual quality difference between SD cable and HD is massive compared to the quality difference between DVD and HD video discs.
And at that point, it's kind of game over for BD, and to a certain extent for DVD too, because with the ubiquitous DVR (does anyone upgrade to HD without getting one?) and a half decent movie channel, you're suddenly getting a supply of "free" HD movies. Why bother even going to Blockbuster?
Blu-ray? You might just as well argue that because people aren't going to restaurants as often, they're going to buy lots of filet mignon steaks to cook at home. No, honestly, they're not. They... we... are going to make the best use of a tight budget. We have steaks when we're out, but when we're at home we eat like Kings by roasting a chicken and having all the trimmings. We're at home to save money. Replacing our DVD collection is not a way of saving money.
I'm starting to do this myself, although my local theatre is not helping things. They used to bring the good movies in, but now they have changed managers. The new manager doesn't have a clue, we think the owner is trying to sell this theatre. I actually had to drive 60 miles to catch two good movies this year. I'm mostly waiting for the dvd to come out these days.