Appliance Design - April 2008 - (Page 56)

ASSOCIATION REPORT: CEA President and CEO Consumer Electronics Association Gary Shapiro ith less than 12 months until the historic transition to digital television, some say society is on the verge of another Y2K. They are absolutely right. Just like on Jan. 1, 2000, when everything worked as well as it had the day before, on Feb. 18, 2009, we will all wonder what the fuss was about. Not to say this hasn’t been a long journey. Television is one of the most ubiquitous technologies in this country; more than 98 percent of Americans own one. For many, it is a primary source for news, weather, and entertainment. So everyone involved knew that changing anything about this American icon would take a lot of work, dedication, and consumer education. In 1998, the first digital televisions rolled off the truck and into stores. This country had a successful W The Reality of The Digital Future just desire a little more content. Our industry and government partnerships targeting consumer education have also proven to be a success. The CEA is proud to be a founding member of the DTV Transition Coalition. With our broadcast and cable partners, we formed this coalition one year ago. It has brought together more than 200 diverse groups, all with the mission to educate consumers. This coalition has developed a website that has become one of the top consumer resources for DTV transition information. It is not just the more than 225,000 monthly consumer visits to the DTV Transition Coalition site (www.DTVtransition.org) that makes us feel confident our outreach efforts are working. A CEA survey conducted this January found that 74 percent of consumers reported awareness of the DTV transition. That’s up 80 percent since we started this education campaign. We also found the number one source of information for a consumer is television. Family, friends and print media came in a distance second. Our efforts are clearly paying off. I am also pleased with the recently launched NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) coupon program, which is already working successfully. Coupons have begun to reach consumers, who have a plethora of options once they receive their coupon. With 36 different certified converter boxes and more than 16,000 certified retail outlets nationwide – some brick-and-mortar and some online – the marketplace is very healthy. This is great news for the 11 percent of households who still receive television over-the-air. Even if every one of these 13.5 million households orders the maximum of two coupons, there would be sufficient coupons to meet the demand. By all measures we are on a pathway to total DTV success. CEA has worked with industry and government for years to bring DTV to America’s households. We supported the development of the new digital TV standard, we fought for a hard deadline, and we continue to work to ensure the success of the digital television transition. Consumer education efforts, the converter box coupon program, and public/private transition partnerships are all working to prepare the country for the final analog cut-off. All that remains is for consumers to tune in on Feb. 18, 2009, and enjoy. < www.applianceDESIGN.com Since 1998, more than 85 million digital televisions have been sold, and they can be found in more than 50 percent of U.S. homes. technical standard – one that embraced high-definition television – and we avoided the mistakes that the Japanese and even the Europeans made when rolling out DTV. Since 1998, more than 85 million digital televisions have been sold, and they can be found in more than 50 percent of U.S. homes. This rate of adoption has been phenomenal – even faster than the adoption of color television. It took more than 10 years for color TV penetration to reach 5 percent. DTV penetration topped 20 percent within just eight years, and at the 10-year mark we have exceeded 50 percent penetration. This trend will continue to grow in 2008, with sales of DTV sets projected to reach nearly 32 million. Not only are consumers buying DTV, they also love their new sets. More than 86 percent of HDTV owners say they are highly satisfied with their TV – they 56 applianceDESIGN April 2008 http://www.DTVtransition.org http://www.appliancedesign.com/

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Appliance Design - April 2008 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch A Variant of Thermoacoustic Refrigeration Known as Acoustic-Stirling is Expanding Its Range Outside Cryocooling Into More Conventional Applications Such As Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Free-Piston, Stirling Coolers Are Now Showing Up in Mainstream Applications As Costs Come Down and Heat Transport Solutions Are Devised Heat Exchanger Innovations Are Helping To Improve the Overall Efficiency of Vapor Compression Systems Environmental Concerns Have Once Again Ignited a Debate Over Refrigerants A New Glass Ceramic Material for Induction Cooktops Can Be Decorated In a Variety of Glimmering Metallic, 3-D Looks That Can Employ a Number of Shades, Patterns, Styles, Colors, Intensities, and Textures Colorful, Reflective Coatings for Glass Create a Variety of Design Options To Help Designers Establish a Unique Look for Their Products Appliance Designers Faced With Different Motor and Drive Options Need To Understand the Differences and Tradeoffs Before Choosing A New MEMS Valve Offers a Number of Advantages Over Solenoids In Certain Applications, Including the Opportunity To Cut Energy Use The AHR Expo Set Attendance Records and Showcased Thousands of Innovative New Products Classifieds Design Marts Advertiser’s Index Association Report: CEA

Appliance Design - April 2008

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