On my very first visit to Costco, I saw something that burned itself into my brain: a shopping cart loaded with baby formula, junk food, and a 23-inch flat-panel TV set. I felt the same way a fashionista would watching someone use an Armani shirt as a dust rag.
Everyone knows there's a fine line between brave and foolhardy; the trick is to know when you've crossed it.
Sometimes the distinction is obvious. Skiing your first double-diamond slope after a winter of lessons? Brave. Dropping into a Class V rapid when you've never kayaked before? Foolhardy.
Nobody realized the potential of digital TV. Sure, 15 years ago, tech pundits raved about the possibilities of multicasting, and A/V buffs salivated over the thought of high-definition images. But digital technology has affected the world of television in many more important ways besides those.
Whether it's a sofa, a spouse, or a new surround-sound technology, you never really know what it's like until you bring it home and spend some time with it.
