BBC News – Intel to launch chipsets with built-in graphics

My comments

With Intel now showing interest in supplying a processor chip with an integrated graphics processor, this will raise the stakes when it comes to supplying single-chip CPU / GPU solutions.

Why supply a single-chip CPU/GPU solution

There is the obvious benefit in design size that it would yield. This would of course allow for more compact applications and, of course, the bill-of-materials costs would be reduced thus allowing for cheaper devices. Another key benefit would be that the single-chip solution would have reduced power needs, which is important for battery-operated devices like laptops, tablet computers and, especially, smartphones.

There is also the reality that most consumer electronics devices like electronic picture frames, digital cameras, TVs / video peripherals and hi-fi equipment are being designed like the general-purpose computers and most of them will also benefit from these CPU/GPU chips. This has become evident with most of these devices offering network and Internet connectivity in a way to augment their primary function or beyond that primary function.  They will also yield the reduced “bill-of-materials” costs and the reduced power demands for this class of device which will become a market requirement.

Similarly, an increasing number of office equipment / computer peripherals, home appliances and “backbone” devices (HVAC / domestic-hot-water, building safety / security, etc) are becoming increasingly sophisticated and offering a huge plethora of functions. I had noticed this more so with the multifunction printers that I have reviewed on this site where most of them use a colour bitmap LCD display and a D-toggle control as part of their user interfaces.

Therefore manufacturers who design these devices can benefit from these single-chip CPU/graphics solutions in order to support these requirements through reduced supporting-power requirements or design costs. In the case of “backbone” devices which typically require the uses to operate them from remotely-located user-interface panels i.e. programmable thermostats or codepads, there isn’t the need to require too much power from the host device to support one or more of these panels even if the panel is to provide access to extended functions.

The market situation

The Intel Sandy Bridge which is just about to be launched at the time of publication, would provide improved graphics. This is in a market which AMD has just entered with their Zacate CPU / graphics chip and been dominated by ARM who have been involved in the smartphone scene. This firm’s design was infact used as part of the Apple A4 chip used in the iPhone 4 and iPad.

With three companies in the market, this could yield a highly-competitive environment with a run for high-quality quickly-drawn graphics, quick CPU response, power conservation / long battery runtime and small circuit size / reduced bill-of-materials. This may also yield a “run for the best” which also yields desirable functionality being available at prices that most people can afford.

The only limitation with this concept is that the single-chip design may make the market for discrete graphics chipsets and cards only for people who value extreme-performance graphics.

Conclusion

The reduced size of these new single-chip CPU/GPU setups could replicate the success of what has happened with the arrival of the 80486 processor with its integrated floating-point coprocessor. It could then make for a longer battery runtime for portable applications and lead to smaller cooler-running computers for most applications.

I have previously published a separate article about the Internationaler Funkaustellung, celebrating the 50th edition of this show and “positioning” it as a pillar when it comes to consumer-electronics technology in Europe. In that article, I have also positioned it alongside the Consumer Electronics Show hosted in Las Vegas every January as a key consumer-technology event, especially whenever new technologies are being launched or commercialised. 

From the various press reports that I have read, it appears that the industry sees the European consumer-electronics and domestic appliance market as being very stable even through the Financial Crisis. 

Appliances

Since 2008, the IFA have been exhibiting domestic appliances and there is still the desire for energy efficient appliances that are easy to use and make less noise during use. 

Again, there hasn’t been any innovations concerning home-automation or security equipment shown at this exhibition. Nor has there been any activity concerning “backbone” heating or domestic-hot-water equipment. This may also be due to such equipment being provided by building owners rather than by householders. 

White-goods

There have been a few innovations concerning large appliances. This is mainly in the form of an automatic “as-needed” detergent dispensing mechanism for washing machines. 

But the main technology that this site is looking forward to is for Miele and Liebherr to release appliances that work tightly with the “smart grid”. The “smart grid” uses automatic meter reading and “time-of-use” pricing to encourage optimum use of electricity. It also integrates “demand-side load management” so that certain loads can be run with less power drain during peak power-usage times as well as support for “reverse metering” for client-managed power-generation installations like solar panels. 

In Miele’s case, their washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers can be set to commence their cycle during the time that the electricity rates are lowest. In Liebherr’s case, their refrigerator can run the freezer at a colder temperature during the time that the electricity rates are lowest so that the freezer becomes an “ice-block” thus avoiding the need to run as much during the day. 

Small-goods

This class of appliance has been mainly focused on lifestyle but there haven’t been any major innovations here. Still, the coffee machine is considered integral to most people’s lifestyle and there is still two different platforms (Nespresso and Senseo) existing for capsule-based espresso machines. 

Now this is where the real activity starts. 

Real competition to the Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and iTunes

This year, IFA 2010 has taken the shine off Apple’s face with the arrival of effective competition to the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and iTunes. This has mainly come in the form of Android-powered smartphones and tablet-style computers being supplied by different manufacturers. 

The event organisers even created a special show area for companies involved in the tablet-computing market to show their wares, whether through hardware, software or accessories. 

Samsung used this year’s IFA to launch the Galaxy Tab device which has an AMOLED display, Wi-Fi networking capability, 3G wireless broadband and has integrated memory capacity of 16Gb. They are also putting more effort behind the Android platform even though they have their hands in other smartphone platforms like Bada and Windows Phone 7. This is while other manufacturers like Lenovo and Toshiba presented devices for launch at a later time. Hanspree also fielded an LED-backlit LCD tablet computer which, like most of iPad’s competitors, is Android-powered. As well, ViewSonic had offered the ViewPad 100 which the first dual-boot tablet computer to run Android or Windows 7. 

As far as smartphones go, there is an increase in the number of Android-powered touchscreen smartphones even though Microsoft took Windows Phone 7 to the final “gold” stage where manufacturers can roll with phones based on that platform. But on September 5, LG had exhibited the Optimus 7 smartphone prototype which was powered by Windows Phone 7 and was demoing it working as a DLNA media control point application that was used to differentiate the phone from other handsets running the same platform. 

At the same time, the Apple iPod Touch has found a legitimate competitor in the form of the Philips GoGear Connect. This is a touchscreen-operated multifunction Internet device that runs on the Android platform. Similarly, Samsung have provided an iPod Touch competitor with their Galaxy Player 50. This device is styled similarly to their Galaxy-series Android smartphones in a similar vein to how the iPod Touch and the iPhone were styled. 

Sony has also answered iTunes as a content store by offering Qriocity as an online-content-retail platform. 

Apple tried to answer this competitive environment by staging their own product-launch event that was ran concurrent with the IFA. This is where they launched iTunes 10 which was a major revision featuring their own social network and extending the AirTunes concept which worked with AirPort Express to select AV-device manufacturers like Denon and rebranding it AirPlay. They also launched a revised iPod Touch which has many of the traits of the iPhone 4 and rolled out a major refresh of iOS 4. 

There has been a fair bit of activity in the “dedicated” e-reader market mainly from Acer, who were fielding their Lumiread e-reader and Sony who were fielding three readers. 

3D and network action in the TV market

2010 is the year of TV innovations 

2010 ist Jahr der Fernsehinnovationen 

Der Standard (Austria) described this year’s IFA 2010 as “2010 is the year of TV innovations” (“2010 ist Jahr der Fernsehinnovationen” – original German language). 

This year is also a major technological-improvement year for the main-lounge-area TV. Here, there has been a major effort in commercialising 3D TV and Internet-enabled TV. Most manufacturers are running at least one 3DTV range and running two or three TV ranges with network and Internet functionality. This is because the market is demanding 3D playback and / or online video functionality out of main-lounge-area TV sets or video peripherals. 

There is even the possibility of MSI introducing a 3D-capable laptop computer. As well,Viewsonic is to use the show to launch a 3D photo frame, camera, camcorder and portable TV as part of cashing in on the 3D craze. As well, Sony had launched a 3D home-cinema projector but would this unit need a special screen and Panasonic has also fielded a high-end camcorders capable of 3D when used with an optional attachment lens. 

At the moment, most 3D TVs and active-shutter glasses only work together if they are from the same manufacturer, but what needs to happen is for a standard communications protocol to be established so that it becomes feasible for 3D screens from one manufacturer to work with active-shutter glasses from another manufacturer. This can allow for concepts like glasses that “look the part” for the wearer or the ability to make active-shutter glasses to an optical prescription so you don’t have to wear them over your prescription glasses. 

The Internet-TV function is based upon the TVs having an Ethernet socket and, dependent on the set, 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless network functionality whether integrated or as a plug-in dongle. They will work on a manufacturer-driven platform to provide streamed or on-demand local content via the Internet infrastructure, although some manufacturers, namely Sony, are implementing Google as an Internet-TV platform. Of course, most of these sets will support DLNA media streaming from the home network if you use your home network’s NAS device to store TV shows. 

This has been augmented by the HbbTV “broadcast-broadband” hybrid TV standard being set in stone by the European standards bodies. This will also lead to Internet content and broadcast TV content being delivered to the same screen at the same time and can cater for highly-interactive viewing setups. It has also been encouraged by most of the European ISPs and telecoms carriers offering IPTV services as part of their triple-play Internet services. 

Philips have released a DLNA-capable 3D-Blu-Ray “home-theatre-in-box” system that has 5 satellite speakers and 1 subwoofer but is able reproduce a sound-field of 9.1 channels. This has been achieved through the satellite speakers being equipped with diffuse drivers to make the sound envelope the listeners.  They hava also made sure that this year’s range of 3D Blu-Ray players are DLNA capable with the BDP9600 being equipped with integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi. 

Other AV technology

Acer have achieved the slimmest desktop monitors around with their 13mm thick LED-backlit LCD units. As well, South Korea’s LG had shown the EL9500 which is a 31” OLED TV and are releasing a DLNA-ready 3DTV which uses nano-LED backlighting. 

Samsung have also continued to push out another compact digital camera which can submit photos to DLNA home networks. 

For Denon, this show marks their 100th anniversary and they were using it to launch a set of limited-edition hi-fi components. 

Telefunken have come back to the hi-fi scene with a handful of component-style systems. One of these systems, designed like the legendary Telefunken units of the 1970s, is designed to be part of the home network and also picks up Internet radio. They are also offering an Android-powered set-top box for the German market. 

Fraunhofer IIS had previewed their TA2 (Together Anywhere Together Anytime) technology. This technology allows for  HD-grade pictures and CD-grade sound for videoconferencing with H.264 video codec and AAC-ELD (Enhanced Low Delay AAC) audio codec. It could be supportive of large-screen TVs with integrated camera and microphone for videoconferencing like the recent Skype-enabled TVs that Panasonic, LG and Samsung had released. 

Conclusion

At least this year has become one of those big years that has concerned consumer technology and yielded many innovations. It has encouraged real competition against Apple when it comes to handheld computing devices and has provided a standard level playing field when it comes to Internet-assisted interactive TV.

This year is a very special year as far as one of the two annual “pillar” trade shows for consumer electronics is concerned. It is going to mark the 50th time the Internationaler Funkaustellung, the premier trade show for consumer-electronics in Europe, has been hosted.

What is the Internationaler Funkaustellung?

The Internationaler Funkaustellung, also known as the IFA, is a German trade show which was primarily centred on consumer entertainment electronics but is now also focusing on major and small appliances intended for personal or domestic use. It was initially a way for Germany to show its radio technology prowess when the medium was just to become a commercial reality.

This used to be an event held between August and September of every second year but is now held annually between the same months. It had existed since 1924 but was suspended through World War II as Germany focused its efforts on the war. It was initially hosted in Berlin but was hosted in different larger cities around Germany including West Berlin even when the nation and that city was divided.

Initially, this was used by German consumer-electronics manufacturers to promote their wares and Loewe, one of the German names associated with luxurious TV sets, has been with this show ever since it started.  As the consumer-electronics scene became more international, this trade fair became more international and also became larger.

An important step in the presentation of new technology

I have seen this show in the same league as the Consumer Electronics Show in the USA as being one to watch when it came to consumer electronics. Typically, this show would be where consumer-entertainment technologies that were relevant to Europe, Australia or New Zealand were premiered or commercialised.

Micro Hi-Fi component systems

Radio – TV – Tape Recording – Hi-Fi – Stereo Sound – FM stereo – Microgroove (LP / 45) records – Cassettes – Colour TV – Dolby NR – Teletext – Enhanced Radio Technologies (ARI traffic information priority, RDS with textual display of station metadata) Home Video – Compact Discs –Stereo TV, Hi-Fi Video and Home Theatre –  MiniDisc –  DVD – Digital Radio – Digital TV – Satellite Navigation – HDTV – 3DTV

You name it, it was either premiered or had its European commercial launch here

Teletext - a predecessor to interactive TV

Of course, this show gave other countries like the USA a look-see in to the consumer-electronics and broadcasting technologies that were in “full swing” in Germany but weren’t being launched or given a commercial chance in the home country. One example was Teletext which allowed TV stations to transmit textual information alongside their video signal, with the end-user being able to call up the information on to the screen of a suitably-equipped TV set using its remote control. Another example was the ARI traffic-information-priority technology where a suitably-equipped car radio could be set to play traffic announcements at a louder volume than the rest of the programme material or tune for only those stations that run the announcements regularly.

Now including domestic appliances and personal care

Since 2008, the organisers had decided to make the IFA show encompass domestic appliances as well as consumer electronics. It was initially a small area of the show but this class of goods increased in its share of the show’s floor space. This even led towards the effective amalgamation of a European home-appliance trade fair with this one in 2009 with this fair become the European universe of all consumer electronic and electrical devices. This trend hasn’t been reflected in the Consumer Electronics Show in the USA, mainly because of a trade-specific fair that covers this class of goods sold in that market or other market-specific reasons.

This was symbolic of a new trend with such appliances being not just a functional element in one’s life but a stronger part of one’s lifestyle. It also included the desire for consumers to buy the major appliances that are more resource efficient, especially as governments are using tax breaks, “scrappage” / “cash-for-clunkers” schemes and similar programs like to assist in this goal.

As well, the last financial crisis has encouraged an increase in “at-home” time and the industry is taking advantage of the fact by integrating small appliances like espresso machines as a way of mimicking the environment of being “out-and-about”.

Relevance to the home and small-business IT world

Over the last ten years, the home network has become an integral part of the consumer lifestyle, especially as “always-on” broadband Internet has become commonplace and the number of multiple-computer households increases. The IFA show has then become a showground for manufacturers to exhibit devices like broadband routers and network-infrastructure equipment as well as desktop and laptop home computers.

Infact, the Wi-Fi-equipped laptop computer and the Wi-Fi wireless home network has become more important over these years thanks in part to the Intel Centrino campaign which emphasised the laptop computer being part of one’s lifestyle. Similarly, mobile phones have become Internet-enabled multi-function devices that can work either with the cellular telephony infrastructure or with a Wi-Fi network. This concept has been spurred on by the recent crop of Nokia phones and the Apple iPhone.

As well, the arrival of file-based media playback, spurred on my MP3 digital audio players, has integrated the computer and the home network as an integral part of the home entertainment system. This functionality was initially in the form of separate devices but has ended up becoming another function of regular audio and video playback hardware and has been enhanced by the use of standards-based technologies like DLNA. Therefore most consumer-electronics firms are using this show to launch or exhibit product models or ranges that feature this ability. Similarly most computer companies are exhibiting network-attached-storage devices that can hold multimedia files and share them around the house.

This concept has extended in to the realm of Internet-based broadcasting where radio or TV content can be obtained live or on-demand from a content-provider’s Website. This has made consumer electronics companies and others work out ways to bring this content forward to TV sets and hi-fi systems without an intimidating and unwieldy device or user interface.

An interesting comparison

Conclusion

This is a way of celebrating how this show has become a “pillar” trade fair as far as consumer electronics and technology in the European market is concerned.

All press photos and logos are copyright of Messe Berlin GmBH.

Articles

Microsoft locks down Windows Phone 7 code • The Register

Windows Phone 7 – Released To Manufacturing | Windows Team Blog (Microsoft)

My comments

The touchscreen-smartphone establishment is now feeling threatened due to Microsoft going “gold” on the Windows Phone 7 operating system. This will mean that the code is ready to roll out to the likes of HP and HTC in order to provide another competing platform for this class of device. In some ways, this platform may also work as a platform that competes with the Blackberry for business-use smartphones. This would be primarily because of the Microsoft name being of high value when it comes to traditional-business computing which is based around a fleet of information-technology devices that belong to the business and managed by IT-management staff.

It reminds me of 1984-1985 when the home computing scene matured with at least six computing platforms became established in the marketplace and this opened a path for a mature home / educational computing market. Similarly, the late 1980s saw the establishment of at least three mature mouse-driven GUI-based desktop computing platforms on the computing market. During these time periods, software developers had to know how to pitch the same application or game at different platforms. In a lot of cases, the developers had to know what the different platforms were capable of and what their programming limitations were. With some platforms like the IBM PC, they also had to know of different display, sound and input-device combinations that were available for the platform at the time.

In the case of the smartphones, the developers may run in to issues with different models on the one platform being equipped with different screen sizes and functionality levels like availability of input or output devices. Similarly they may have to make their software please the companies in charge of some platforms before they can sell the software through the platform’s software marketplace. This may affect utility applications like Wi-Fi site-survey tools or remote-control applications that may implement functionality that may be “out-of-scope” for the platform.

These next years may show which platforms will mature and stabilise to become the preferred ones for consumer, advanced-consumer and business smartphone classes.

 AMD jettisons ATI brand name, makes Radeon its own – The Tech Report

My comments

Some of us who have observed what has happened with the ATI graphics chipset name was taken over by AMD and were wondering what would happen with this name and the graphics-chipset scene.

Now that AMD has changed the brand for the ATI chipsets to their own brand, who knows what could happen next especially when it comes to computer display solutions, especially integrated-display setups like in laptops, all-in-one PCs and low-profile desktop computers.

One way that the situation could evolve would be for AMD to end up making motherboard or chipset solutions centred around an AMD CPU and GPU setup. This may be in a similar vein to the Intel Centrino solutions which include an Intel Wi-Fi chipset as well as the Intel CPU.

The worst thing that could affect high-end graphics and gaming users is for AMD to pull out of the plug-in display-card scene thus reducing a competitive aftermarket when it comes to performance graphics. This is because the ATI brand has been put up as an alternative to NVIDIA when it came to aftermarket and OEM plug-in display cards pitched at the gaming, multimedia and performance graphics scene.

Once we see disappearance of brands that are part of a competitive market, there has to be others who well provide competing products or a nasty monopoly or cartel can start to exist.

 Broadband pricing in US and Europe falls • The Register

My comments

This article talks of a highly-competitive broadband Internet-service that exists in the US and Europe, with this aided and abetted by the provision of lower-cost prepaid mobile broadband services with generous usage caps and the provision of multiple-play services by the ISPs. In some countries like the UK and France, this would be augmented by telecommunications competition regulations that “have teeth” and the willingness for telecommunications regulators like OFCOM (UK) and ARCEP (France) to enforce these regulations.

In the case of multiple-play (triple-play) services, the ISPs can make up for the low-cost Internet through highly-differentiated telephone and pay-TV packages as well as selling or leasing-out hardware for these services.

But there are some other factors worth considering here. One would be that the cost of a regular cable or ADSL fixed-line service would be going downhill because most of the countries are rolling out fibre-optic-based “next-generation broadband”. Here, users who are technologically “switched on” would head to these services and the ADSL services would then be freed up and sold to most people who have regular broadband needs at a “dime-a-dozen”. It would then make the “modest-bandwidth” services become less valuable to the ISPs and these would be sold as “entry-level” services while existing customers would be shifted up to the higher-bandwidth services.

In Australia, we are missing out on this because we have a series of problems:

• The role of the universal telephony service provider is on Telstra’s hands with people who buy Telstra’s discretionary services like Internet or mobile-telephony service bearing the cost of them furnishing this basic requirement through high costs or reduced download quotas.
• Reduced infrastructure-based competition between mainstream telcos for Internet and mobile-telephony service with some operators charging others a premium to use their infrastructure.
• Higher costs and reduced international-link competition that also keep the Internet costs high.

At least the broadband issue has been one of the main playing cards in the last Federal election. This could put everyone “on notice” about the providing of cost-effective Internet service across the country.

I have reviewed and currently own a Kogan Internet radio and also know of someone else who owns the same radio and a picture frame under this same label. As well, I have known Kogan as being a name associated with cost-effective LCD TVs sold directly through the Internet.

Kogan Internet table radio

Compare this with Harvey Norman, those big “category-killer” furniture / domestic-appliance / consumer-electronics superstores appearing in nearly every Australian city and you watching those TV ads where you hear someone shouting like a race-caller about the way you can buy new furniture, appliances or consumer electronics on varying “no-deposit no-interest” credit packages.

Here I have observed the debate put forward by Ruslan Kogan who founded and owns Kogan with Gerry Harvey who founded Harvey Norman and Ruslan had put up the issue of his low-cost direct-market operation while Gerry had put forward the idea of people being more comfortable with buying the “big-brand” equipment off the retail floor at a chain store.

Tandy Electronics and the Realistic brand

Another company I always have thought of in this context concerning Ruslan Kogan and Gerry Harvey was Tandy Electronics, known as Radio Shack in the USA, at its peak through the 1970s and the 1980s. Here, this company had built a strong business on selling electronics parts, computers, electronics books and similar goods made under their own labels through mail-order or any of the many company-managed stores that appeared in many US towns, Australian cities and other company-managed retail locations around the world.

One major brand that stood out in my mind so clearly was “Realistic”. This brand was known for an ever-changing line-up of cost-effective consumer electronics that did the job properly and reliably. The keynote products that I and others would have associated with this brand were the STA-series stereo hi-fi receivers. Each year, there were at least 10 different receiver models with varying power outputs and levels of functionality with even the cheapest unit offering an expected level of functionality (support for 1 record player, 1 aux input, separate loop for 1 recording device, 2 speaker pairs) even though it was positioned as an entry-level unit.

I have personally used or seen in use many of the Realistic consumer-electronics equipment and have found that it could do the job very adequately at a very reasonable price and have found it to be a brand that one is not “ashamed to use”. For example, I had seen the Realistic MPA-20 public-address amplifier in use at an “open day” which a friend was hosting at their rose farm in 1999 and this was part of a PA system that was on loan from their local Country Fire Authority.

Realistic car stereo cited in this article

Similarly, I had used two examples of this entry-level “fast-forward-eject” car radio-cassette (catalogue number 12-1892), that is illustrated here and that was put on the market in 1980. The first example that I had used in February 1981 was installed on an old friend’s car, close to that month and was good on the tape with an earlier mixtape that I had. and, through subsequent uses was good on both radio bands and with many other tapes. The other examples that was installed in a lemon of a car that another  friend was duped in to buying in 1993 by a smooth-talking mechanic. This example had  played a recently-recorded mixtape of mine very reliably without the usual problems associated with this class of cassette player. I have also used and seen in use some hi-fi systems with Realistic components and the owners weren’t ashamed of using this equipment that was under this brand.

Therefore I have held the Realistic brand that was developed by Tandy Electronics as an example of how Ruslan Kogan could develop the Kogan brand further by running a good line of consumer electronics that works properly to the letter yet each unit is at a price point that yields more “bang for the buck” and satisfies the customer’s need properly.

Attitudes to Direct-Sales / Mail-Order Purchasing and “Clean-Skin” / “White-Box” products

As well, I have heard and read a lot about purchasing of goods from sources other than “bricks-and-mortar” stores of major chains being a common and accepted practice in the USA.

This can be in the form of buying through mail-order, over the phone or (nowadays) via the Internet with reference to large paper catalogues or, for Internet-based purchasing, the vendor’s Website. The likes of Sears and Amazon have started off in that country based on this trend and some outlets like Sears, Sharper Image and Victoria’s Secret have built their name around these catalogues even though some of them operate traditional retail floor-space. But there is a different attitude shown by most Australian customers when it comes to buying goods like consumer electronics. A lot of them feel more comfortable looking at the goods in action on the retail floor rather than reading about them in a catalogue or Website.

Similarly, there is an acceptance for private labels and “clean-skin” / “white-box” products in the USA where goods or consumables made by an original or well-known manufacturer are repackaged by distributors or retailers under the distributor’s or retailer’s own label either to provide an affordable product or one that is positioned in to the shop’s market. A large number of the Australian retailers do use private labels but, save for a few exceptions in the premium-goods sector, most of these labels aren’t considered any worth and are only seen as being for cheapskates.

As well, in Australia there isn’t much encouragement for packaging “original-brand” goods  as “clean-skin” or “white-box” methods especially if the goods are sold through common retail outlets. Similarly, most people don’t think of visiting independent retailers for most of their technology purchasing needs. This has usually been brought about by the arrival of “category-killer” retail chains which rely heavily on large stores located primarily in the suburbs where land is cheap alongside highly-saturated television-advertising campaigns centred around flashy graphics and announcers that sound like race-callers at a horse race and use of catalogues full of flashy graphics shoved in letter-boxes or inserted in to tabloid newspapers.

Exceptions to this rule that may happen include goods sold to the trade specifically for on-selling to customers as part of an installation or maintenance job, independent retailers selling “clean-skin” parts and accessories “loose” or in minimal packaging or independent computer resellers supplying “white-box” desktop computers that they build on their own premises.

Educational competence influencing purchasing practices

This rule may also be affected by the education level or technical competence of the customer where the customers who are more likely to be educated and / or technically competent are more likely to be astute when it comes to buying consumer goods. Therefore they are more likely to discriminate between the kind of goods available and show interest in and subsequently accept private labels, direct-sales / mail-order purchasing and independent retailers.

This fact is typically represented by the kinds of shops that make up shopping centres that exist in poorer neighbourhoods, where a lot of space is dedicated to larger “big-box” chain stores like Harvey-Norman and K-Mart whereas neighbourhoods that are more likely to be occupied by educated consumers are likely to have more strip shopping centres filled with independent retailers.

Conclusion

This debate between Ruslan Kogan and Gerry Harvey has put a lot more in to context when it comes to computer and consumer-electronics retail especially as the connected home becomes a reality and people will want to consider acquiring “connected” consumer electronics over the years.