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Given Pioneer's current prominence in the world of plasma displays, DVD players (plus soon, they trust, Blu-ray Disc), and other home audio and video electronics, it may surprise you to learn that it began as a speaker company. In fact, Pioneer speakers still have a significant market presence in many parts of the world.

If things keep going the way they have been Toshiba's HD DVD format just might win the format war by forfeit. Reports began circulating around the web Friday that Sony's BDP-S1 standalone Blu-ray player would not only miss its scheduled debut on October 25th, but wouldn't appear until early December. Sure enough, the SonyStyle web site that is taking pre-orders for the players now shows its targeted availability as "on or about December 4, 2006."

In the early 1980s, as an audio salesperson for a Chicago-area A/V retail/custom-install store, I fielded a phone call from Godehard Guenther, the founder and president of a/d/s/. We were one of the largest dealers for their fine line of automotive speakers, and he wanted photos of some of our high-end auto-sound installations featuring a/d/s/. "We don't even have a car-stereo department," I responded, freezing him mute. "We're installing your speakers into the walls of homes." This brilliant former NASA engineer and one-time employee of Wernher von Braun was dumbfounded. Car speakers cut into the walls of houses—what a concept.