Most Popular Articles

Getting Started with New Gadgets

By Elizabeth Wasserman

Each year brings so many new must-have gadgets that it's hard to keep them all straight. There are global positioning satellite (GPS) phones to help keep track of your kids as they roam the neighborhood. There's the Roomba, a robotic vacuum cleaner, for the housekeeper who has everything. Digital cameras have dropped in price so much that they are sort of like toothbrushes -- every member of the family now has their own. Ditto with MP3 players. And what kid wouldn't want a v-Migo, a pocket-sized electronic pet that plugs into your TV?

Though women now account for 55% of the $125 billion spent on consumer electronics each year, says the Consumer Electronics Association, this trend does present new organizational challenges -- there are too many product registration cards, warranties, manuals and charger/power cords to wrangle. "I got to the point where I couldn't figure out which cord went to the camcorder and which went to the digital camera," says Laurie Fearing, marketing director at Cambridge Soundworks, an electronics manufacturer and retailer. "So I've labeled them all."
Jump to full text of this article here