Wednesday, December 28, 2005

You Gotta Have a Gimmick

PC World Magazine has selected what it considers The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years. Like all such lists, this one is highly arguable. They put the Sony Walkman at number one and I guess that's as good a pick as any. I am reminded of a lecture I once heard by Akio Morita, who was the co-founder of Sony and maybe the smartest person whose words I ever heard in person. He explained at some length how every conceivable marketing survey and expert had told him that people — Americans, especially — would never buy a tape recorder that didn't record and that the Walkman would be a sure-fire flop. He said something like, "A record player doesn't record and this is better than a record player" and he ignored the experts. Which is one of the reasons he died with more money than all of us, put together, will ever see.

Anyway, enjoy the list. I don't quite understand why a transistor radio that came on the market in 1954 is among the greatest gadgets of the past 50 years. I also don't get why they didn't include my favorite, the Reach Access Flosser unless it's because it doesn't take batteries.

• Posted at 12:48 PM · LINK

A Beck Book Beckons

In the photo at above right, the guy on the left is Chuck McCann, the brilliant comedian, actor, cartoon voice, puppeteer, Oliver Hardy impersonator, video innovator, etc. The fellow at right is Jerry Beck, the fine animation producer and historian. I took the pic at a party the other night and it's the perfect thing to put up here to plug Jerry's new book, which you see in the other picture. It's called The Animated Movie Guide and it's a must-have for anyone interested in animation. Jerry and a crew of experts list every animated feature ever released in the United States — there are more than 300 of them — and give data, voice and crew information, storylines and wizened reviews, some of which I even agree with. You'll be especially interested in the real obscure ones, which are well-covered...in some cases for the first time ever in print. Here's an Amazon link along with our highest recommendation. And on your way to order, stop in at Cartoon Brew, the fine animation weblog Jerry maintains with Amid Amidi.

• Posted at 2:03 AM · LINK

A Good Excuse

I got hit with a computer virus last night...nothing Norton Anti-Virus and I couldn't handle but it took about three hours to make sure I'd gotten rid of every last trace of it. So I'm even farther behind on e-mail than I was before, and I was already pretty far behind. Forgive me, all ye whose messages languish in my "To Be Answered" folder. Someday, they may get out of there.

• Posted at 1:48 AM · LINK

Happy Stan Lee Day

Birthday greetings to Stan Lee..whose life I saved two weeks ago — on December 13th, to be exact — when I didn't run over him on Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills.

That's right, Stan. You were wearing an orange sweater, walking along with some guy in a suit. The signal at the corner was flashing DON'T WALK but you stepped off the curb anyway and didn't even notice as a dark green Lexus screeched to a halt. That was me driving. (Can you imagine the headlines? "Jack Kirby's former assistant runs over Stan Lee." Or maybe "Stan Lee fatally injured by former Vice-President of Stan Lee Media." Oh. my God.)

This would have been a double tragedy. I'd be in jail and we'd have lost a very witty, charming giant in the field of comic books and fantasy...a man who is much admired and loved.

So happy birthday, Stan. I'm so glad I didn't kill you.

• Posted at 12:35 AM · LINK