The Gadgets Page

When you read this article from the LA Times, you don’t need to delve deep to realize that Microsoft was planning on Zune being a failure.

• Zune music player’s sales on target, Microsoft says – Los Angeles Times

This is what they have to say,

Initial sales “indicate we are on track to meet our internal business projections,” Zune Director Jason Reindorp said.

The tell-tale indicator that it’s a failure however is this:

Microsoft has refused to disclose sales or projections. A survey by Piper Jaffray & Cos. analyst Eugene Munster shows that few retailers are recommending the device.

What are they up to? If they planned to sell as few Zune as they have, why did they even bother? When you look at the advertising that has been done for Zune, it makes it even MORE obvious that they wanted it to fail.

Who uses Zune? Fat losers in basements? When you compare it to the Nano commercial, it is really obvious:

When you take into account that the only thing that they are really advertising as cool is the fact that you can wirelessly share music, it might have been pretty cool, but the sharing is purposely crippled. You can only play a shared tune three times before it’s deleted from your drive. Maybe Microsoft is trying to teach the RIAA a lesson. Cripple us and you won’t make any money off us. That just sounds like a conspiracy theory, but it’s the only thing that makes sense to me.

I have owned my Emjoi Optima Epilator for almost three years now. It still works just as well as the day I bought it. I did a review for it last year at this time:

• The Gadgets Page » Emjoi Optima Epilator

If you are thinking of a gift for the woman in your life, this might be a drastic step. It’s not like when she gives you a razor because an epilator pulls the hair out by the root. It’s VERY painful the first three or four times you use it, so if you want her to love you, you might not want to get her an epilator.

Then again, if she has been waxing regularly, she is no stranger to pain. Epilators are actually less painful than waxing because you control how many hairs come out at once by the amount of pressure that you use. Emjoi isn’t the only company that makes epilators. Here are a couple of other choices:

The Braun Silk-Epil X’elle: Includes a trimmer for cutting hair instead of pulling it out. The Amazon.com reviews say that it doesn’t come with a “cooling glove,” even though it’s listed on the included items. Good riddance. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t work anyway. There’s really nothing that can dull the pain of epilation the first few times.

The Panasonic 3-in-1 Epilator: I don’t know what a “bikini comb” is but it’s supposed to work with the shaver attachment, so it must be something good. This is Panasonic’s entry in the category. If she likes purple, then this one might distract her from the pain.

The Norelco Satinelle Ice Epilator: If she tweezes hair from her face, she probably won’t want to use the same epilator on her upper lip as she does on her legs, underarms and bikini area. This Norelco looks like it would be good for facial epilation.

The Norelco Satinelle Epilator: Here is Norelco’s epilator for the rest of the body. For only thirty dollars, this one looks like it’s a great deal. It doesn’t come with a shaving head, so if you are planning on using it on the bikini line, you probably need some sort of trimmer in addition to this.

Remington Women’s Smooth & Silky Hair Removal System: For seven more dollars, you can get 24-karat-gold-plated, hypo-allergenic tweezing discs. I am severly allergic to nickel, but I have never had a reaction to any epilator. The metal just doesn’t touch your skin long enough to be an irritant. The gold-plated tweezing discs are just for show, sorry. It’s still going to hurt.

Once again, remember if the woman of your life is a regular waxer or tweezes her face, then these products will be a godsend. There is no risk of chemical burns or heated wax burns. They’re a little noisy, but they get the hair removal job done amazingly quickly. She will LOVE you for buying this for her because of all the time and pain you’ve saved her.

If, however, you are thinking of getting this for the lady in your life who loves her razor, these things will hurt like a mother****er and she will HATE you for buying this for her.

It looks like Sirius is going to start broadcasting live television soon. You’ll be able to watch the game on your GPS screen in your car with the right equipment and a pricey monthly fee. Does anybody want this?

• Sirius CEO sees live TV in cars by the end of 2007 – Nov. 30, 2006

On another note, this is a surprising addition to programming competition. If satellite radio is able to attract big radio people like Howard Stern, will satellite TV do the same? Should the networks be worried?

Sirius should be more worried about the Video iPod and iTunes downloads than the networks. I can already watch television in my car. I can even download the shows using my laptop and my cell phone. They aren’t planning on releasing this until the end of 2007. I’ve already got it. What’s taking them so long?