Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.
Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.
Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.
Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.
HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.
HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.
HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.
GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.
Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.
Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.
Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
P Cost said 8:11PM on 11-04-2009
I believe if you go back further in Bell System history you will
find the choice for Daisy at Bell labs was in tribute to Alexander
Graham Bell's marketing ploy to sell the earliest telephones. Audio quality
in the early telephones was not good, but, by demonstrating them by
singing a song that everyone knew the lyrics (Daisy), meant the
potential customer would fill in the garbled parts and another
happy customer was signed up. I believe they were sold in pairs
so that you would have at least someone you knew to call.
Reply
jetmechna said 2:55AM on 11-05-2009
That's fascinating, about Alexander Gram Bell being the first to use Daisey and the reason why he used it... and Bell Labs using it later, then Kubrick. That would make "2001" a fitting tribute to real world computing and telephony.
I remember going to the Cinestage theater in downtown Chicago to see the Chicago premiere of "2001." In 1968 everything in Chicago was "Mod"....(for "modern"). They had picture phones set up on the streets so people could talk to each other via picture phones on different streets. You didn't know the other person but hey, you were both using a picture phone just like in the movie. Cool! Also the Marina City twin towers apartment buildings had recently opened and they were pretty futuristic looking themselves. We took a tour of them too. As I recall, they did some sort of special effects right in the theater somehow to enhance the movie showing. I can't recall exactly what it was....whether it was injecting aromas into the air during the cave man sequence or whether it was matching the temperature to the scene....but I recall that the Cinestage Theater did something like that to enhance the special showing of "2001 A Space Odyssey".
Tape said 8:58AM on 11-06-2009
Of course, there were millions of people who already knew this.
Reply
Brendan said 10:08AM on 11-06-2009
Indeed. My electronic composition professor told me a pretty great story about a conference he went to where Max Matthews (one of the guys involved in making the computer sing Daisy) was presenting a piece. He was 80-something years old at the time, and it happened to be his birthday. After presenting his piece, someone started singing "Daisy", and by the end of it the whole crowd had joined in. It sounded like a pretty nice moment.
Monica Dickey said 11:44PM on 11-06-2009
Yeah even I knew this. I guess I'm geekier than your average person but this isn't some sort of secret either.
ClayBratt said 10:21AM on 11-06-2009
Um Im pretty sure this has been known for years
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_Bell
Reply
Lilricky said 10:22PM on 11-06-2009
Yes, but then Terrence would have had to come up with an actual story and not something he pulled out of his a$$.
David said 10:24AM on 11-06-2009
Hey jetmechna - I was there! 10 years old and saw 2001 in downtown Chicago. Reading you post brought that day back to me. Thanks!
Reply
Dan S. said 10:42AM on 11-06-2009
Terrence, maybe you've watched a different cut of "2001: A Space Odyssey" than the rest of us -- I recall 3 distinct Monoliths, but zero Obelisks.
Reply
Ralph said 10:53AM on 11-06-2009
This is a pretty good rendition of "Daisy," even by today's standards. Sadly, the quality of computer singing has advanced very little since 1963.
Reply
Revelation said 10:21PM on 11-06-2009
I don't know, Ralph. Britney-bot and Lopez-bot do a fairly convincing job.
Mike said 4:46PM on 11-06-2009
This isn't a new discovery (excuse the pun). I even read it myself in one of Clarke's books over a decade ago, and it's quite common knowledge among fans of the movie.
Reply
Bob Hawkins said 11:13AM on 11-26-2009
Ah, but do you know the secret of the chess game?
Earlier in the voyage of the Discovery, one of the astronauts plays a game of chess with HAL. He makes a move and HAL says, "I think you missed it..." and gives a series of moves that ends in him checkmating the astronaut. The astronaut gives the moves a quick once-over and concedes the game to HAL.
But the astronaut could have made a different move than HAL showed him and gotten a draw. HAL scammed him. Foreshadowing that HAL would later kill him, and showing that HAL was losing it.
C'mon, I can't be the only one who gets this?
Reply
frank.boisvert said 8:11PM on 11-16-2009
Uh. This is nowhere near new information.
Reply