Michael Fremer

Manufacturers of many types of goods, from mattresses to consumer electronics, sell different products through different distribution channels. One channel might be the big chains like Best Buy and Circuit City. Another might be higher-end, specialty retailers like Harvey's and Tweeter, Etc. Yet another might be custom installers. In fact, some brands, like Triad, are available exclusively through the custom installers. You can't buy them at retail.

Once upon a time loudspeakers were large, floor standing affairs, especially those designed to produce deep bass. Then came the acoustic suspension revolution and "bookshelf" loudspeakers were born, most of which ended up on stands in homes where sound quality counts. Many manufacturers specialized in one or the other, but a few offered both.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.mf.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=180 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>A paraphrase of Winston Churchill's famous WWII line, "It may not be the beginning of the end, but it may very well be the end of the beginning," served as the Consumer Electronics Association's official assessment of the state of the 18-year-and-counting transition to digital television at its 10th Annual HDTV Summit, held this past Ides of March in Washington, D.C.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.mf.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=180 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>I realize that accountability is passe, what with no heads rolling for no WMDs and a Medal of Freedom award going to a guy who presided over, among other "achievements," 9 billion of your tax dollars going missing in Iraq according to the non-partisan GAO (General Accounting Office). But being an old-fashioned kind of guy, I still believe in holding people accountable for their words and their deeds&mdash;myself included.