108-468: CNET (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. CNET originally produced content for radio and television in addition to its website before applying new media distribution methods through its internet television network, CNET Video , and its podcast and blog networks. Founded in 1992 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it
216-554: A radio frequency link while the user is moving within a telephone service area. The radio frequency link establishes a connection to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator , which provides access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile telephone services use a cellular network architecture and, therefore, mobile telephones are called cellular telephones or cell phones in North America. In addition to telephony , digital mobile phones ( 2G ) support
324-555: A Canadian subsidiary. Also that year, the Hi Brows humor studio card line was launched. In July 1957, the company moved its headquarters to One American Road, Brooklyn, Ohio. In 1958, American Greetings went public. Jacob Sapirstein became chairman of the board while Irving assumed the company's president post in 1960. In Forest City, North Carolina, the company built a cabinet manufacturing plant in 1960. A Mexican subsidiary in Mexico City
432-803: A communications protocol is a system of digital rules for data exchange within or between computers. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) trade show has taken place yearly in Las Vegas , Nevada since its foundation in 1973. The event, which grew from having 100 exhibitors in its inaugural year to more than 4,500 exhibiting companies in its 2020 edition, features the latest in consumer electronics, speeches by industry experts and innovation awards. The IFA Berlin trade show has taken place in Berlin , Germany since its foundation in 1924. The event features new consumer electronics and speeches by industry pioneers. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE),
540-575: A few thousand units in mass-merchandise outlets in the US. By early 1994, 7,000 were installed. The kiosks generated modest profits off healthy revenue. With the Touch Screen Greetings and the Personalize It! method, Hallmark in 1992 sued AG over patent infringement with a 1995 settlement that allow both to use the technology worldwide. By 1995, the kiosks were being left behind by personal computers and
648-423: A given price, semiconductor functionality doubles every two years. While consumer electronics continues in its trend of convergence , combining elements of many products, consumers face different purchasing decisions. There is an ever-increasing need to keep product information updated and comparable for the consumer to make an informed choice. Style, price, specification, and performance are all relevant. There are
756-490: A gradual shift towards e-commerce web-storefronts. Many products include Internet access using technologies such as Wi-Fi , Bluetooth , EDGE , or Ethernet . Products not traditionally associated with computer use (such as TVs or hi-fi equipment) now provide options to connect to the Internet or to a computer using a home network to provide access to digital content. The desire for high-definition (HD) content has led
864-582: A lower loss than in the prior year. In 2003, Morry Weiss's sons, Zev and Jeffrey, became CEO and President respectively; Morry Weiss remained Chairman. American Greetings had also branched out onto the internet and owned a network of websites. In October 2007, American Greetings bought Webshots from CNET for $ 45 million in cash. In July 2004, American Greetings sold MagniVision to an affiliate of Foster Grant sunglasses manufacturer. In October 2005, American Greetings recalled its Sesame Street toy sunglasses sold from December 2003 through August 2005, because
972-446: A net income increase of 613 percent over ten years, Hallmark still maintained its market share. Gibson Greetings started a price war in 1986 and ended in 1987 which had the three major greeting card companies taking a loss. With a drop in licensing revenue, American took until 1989 to recover. Those Characters From Cleveland was started up by Tom Wilson on behalf of American Greetings in 1980. The first property out of Those Characters
1080-509: A new facility at Crocker Park within the nearby city of Westlake , but in 2013, the company delayed to move its operations to Westlake. Construction had been scheduled to start in early 2013. In 2014, American Greetings sold its Brooklyn, Ohio headquarters to developers and began renting its current offices from the new owners until the move to Westlake. American Greetings opened their new Westlake headquarters in September 2016. The company leases
1188-899: A new user interface and the renaming of CNET TV as CNET Video. Red Ventures announced in September 2020 that it would acquire CNET from ViacomCBS for $ 500 million. The transaction was completed on October 30, 2020. In November 2022, CNET began publishing articles written with artificial intelligence and edited by humans. CNET was criticized for failing to disclose that it was using a machine to write articles, and for using human bylines on some AI-generated content until caught by independent investigators. CNET reviewed those articles in January 2023 after many were found to contain serious errors and plagiarized material. CNET reporters said Red Ventures pushed them to give more favourable coverage to advertisers and work on sponsored content. Subsequently, 10% of CNET staff were laid off. Employees unionized in response to
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#17330923516151296-469: A newspaper cartoon strip generating additional income. By 1977, Holly Hobbie became one of the top female licensed character in the world. Morry Weiss, Irving's son-in-law, and Irving Stone in 1978 were appointed president and chairman & CEO, respectively. Also that year, the corporation set up two new subsidiaries Plus Mark, Inc. and A.G. Industries, Inc. Plus Mark was formed to manufacture Christmas gift wrap, boxed cards, and accessories. A.G. Industries
1404-407: A number of MOSFET integrated circuit (IC) chips, include various sensors that can be leveraged by pre-included and third-party software (such as a magnetometer , proximity sensors , barometer , gyroscope , accelerometer and more ), and support wireless communications protocols (such as Bluetooth , Wi-Fi , or satellite navigation ). In 2017, Greenpeace USA published a study of 17 of
1512-529: A potential shift in attitudes to reuse and repair. With turnover of small household appliances high and costs relatively low, many consumers will throw unwanted electric goods in the normal dustbin, meaning that items of potentially high reuse or recycling value go to landfills. While more oversized items such as washing machines are usually collected, it has been estimated that the 160,000 tonnes of EEE in regular waste collections were worth £220 million. And 23% of EEE taken to Household Waste Recycling Centres
1620-500: A profit, was announced in June 1999 to be taken public, but was withdrew due to the early 2000 tech stock collapse. In March 1999, Hallmark started a price war with the introduction of a 99-cent card line forcing American to do the same. In 1999, the implementation of a new inventory system slowed shipments to retailers, but this reduced sales by $ 100 million, a 1.5% decrease, ending a 93rd consecutive year of increasing revenue. Fruchtenbaum
1728-568: A result of the dot-com crash, the company ended the Gamecenter Alliance network in January 2001. On February 7, Gamecenter itself was closed in a redundancy reduction effort, as GameSpot was the more successful of the two sites. Around 190 jobs were cut from CNET during this period, including "at least 20" at Gamecenter , according to the San Francisco Chronicle . Discussing the situation, Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer reported, "It
1836-446: A result, the big players rely on global markets to achieve economies of scale. Even these companies sometimes have to cooperate with each other, for instance on standards, to reduce the risk of their investments. In supply chain management , there is much discussion on risks related to such aspects of supply chains as short product life cycles, high competition combined with cooperation, and globalization. The consumer electronics industry
1944-479: A robust reviews section that it was led by Juan Garzon. After Red Ventures' acquisition, the company announced the closing of CNET en Español on November 11, 2020, leaving the largest tech site in Spanish in the US out of the market. In March 2014, CNET refreshed its site by merging with CNET UK and vowing to merge all editions of the agency into a unified agency. This merge brought many changes, foremost of which would be
2052-441: A single substrate using electrical connections between circuits within the chip itself. IC technology led to more advanced and cheaper consumer electronics, such as transistorized televisions, pocket calculators , and by the 1980s, affordable video game consoles and personal computers that regular middle-class families could buy. Starting in the 1980s with the compact disc and the introduction of personal computers, and until
2160-546: A tiny fraction of disposable income , rising from 0.5 percent in the US in 1920, to about 2 percent in 1980. Yet the sequence of electrical and mechanical durables have altered the activities and experiences of households in America and Britain in the twentieth century. With the expansion of cookers, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, washing machines, radios, televisions, air conditioning, and microwave ovens, households have gained an escalating number of appliances. Despite
2268-413: A variety of other services , such as text messaging , MMS , email , Internet access , short-range wireless communications ( infrared , Bluetooth ), business applications, video games and digital photography . Mobile phones offering only those capabilities are known as feature phones ; mobile phones which offer greatly advanced computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones . A smartphone
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#17330923516152376-763: A videocassette recorders (VCRs) consume more electricity during the course of a year in standby mode than when they are used to record or playback videos. Similar findings were obtained concerning satellite boxes , which consume almost the same amount of energy in "on" and "off" modes. A 2012 study in the United Kingdom, carried out by the Energy Saving Trust , found that the devices using the most power on standby mode included televisions, satellite boxes, and other video and audio equipment. The study concluded that UK households could save up to £86 per year by switching devices off instead of using standby mode. A report from
2484-510: Is a portable device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems , which facilitate wider software , internet (including web navigation over mobile broadband ), and multimedia functionality (including music, video, cameras , and gaming ), alongside core phone functions such as voice calls and text messaging . Smartphones typically contain
2592-605: Is a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics contributing $ 1.2 billion in revenues. Samsung Electronics has one of the highest R&D expenditure as a proportion of revenues in the industry and spent about $ 2.9 billion in 2003. Along with its competitors, Samsung Electronics is global and employs 88,000 people in 89 offices in 46 countries. Not including facilities in Korea, it has 24 manufacturing complexes, 40 distribution bases and 15 branches spread over all continents except Antarctica. Countries with manufacturing facilities include
2700-931: Is a privately held American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards . Based in Westlake, Ohio , a suburb of Cleveland , the company sells paper greeting cards, electronic greeting cards, gift packaging, stickers and party products. In addition, the company owns the Carlton Cards , Tender Thoughts, Papyrus, Recycled Paper Greetings and Gibson brands. American Greetings' former toy design and licensing division, initially called Those Characters From Cleveland , subsequently renamed AG Properties and American Greetings Entertainment and now separately owned as Cloudco Entertainment . American Greetings also holds an exclusive license for Nickelodeon characters. Sapirstein Greeting Card Co.
2808-603: Is comparable across countries affects the extent of the gains from international integration. In addition, consumer preferences change over time to disturb existing patterns of behavior. A feature of some industries is that demand for variety increases as the market moves from first-time buying to replacement demand. A resource to further understand this idea of consumer preferences can be observed through Lizabeth Cohen's book titled, "A Consumers' Republic", "Only if we have large demands can we expect large production". The electronics industry, especially consumer electronics, emerged in
2916-478: Is decided by CNET on behalf of its organizers), and named it the winner in a vote by the site's staff. However, CBS abruptly disqualified the Hopper, and vetoed the results because the company was in active litigation with Dish Network. CNET also announced that it could no longer review any product or service provided by companies that CBS are in litigation with (which also includes Aereo ). The new vote subsequently gave
3024-417: Is deleted on its website, CNET creates an internal copy and another to Wayback Machine . The writer, if still employed by CNET, is also alerted 10 days in advance. Google said deleting articles to optimize for search engine rankings is not a good practice. In January 2024, Axios reported that Red Ventures was exploring a sale of the website, with a goal of attaining at least $ 250 million for it. The site
3132-399: Is free of spyware , but independent sources have confirmed that this is not the case. While Download.com is overall a safe place to download programs, precautions should be taken before downloading from the site, as some downloads do contain malware. In January 2023, Misplaced Pages editors began the process of downgrading CNET's reliability rating as a source following the revelation that CNET
3240-402: Is in its 35th year. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society also have initiated a conference to research on next generation consumer electronics as Smart Electronics. The conference named IEEE Symposium on Smart Electronics Systems ( IEEE-iSES ) is on its 9th year. Electronics retailing is a significant part of the retail industry in many countries. In
3348-626: Is limited and energy intensive. Electronic waste describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. Many consumer electronics may contain toxic minerals and elements, and many electronic scrap components, such as CRTs , may contain contaminants such as lead , cadmium , beryllium , mercury , dioxins , or brominated flame retardants . Electronic waste recycling may involve significant risk to workers and communities and great care must be taken to avoid unsafe exposure in recycling operations and leaking of materials such as heavy metals from landfills and incinerator ashes. However, large amounts of
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3456-486: Is part of the wider electronics industry . In turn, the driving force behind the electronics industry is the semiconductor industry . For its first fifty years, the phonograph turntable did not use electronics; the needle and sound horn were purely mechanical technologies. However, in the 1920s, radio broadcasting became the basis of mass production of radio receivers . The vacuum tubes that had made radios practical were used with record players as well, to amplify
3564-620: Is the very embodiment of these aspects of supply chain management and related risks. While some of the supply and demand related risks are similar to such industries as the toy industry, the consumer electronics industry faces additional risks due to its vertically integrated supply chains. There are also numerous supply-chain-wide contextual risks that cut across the supply chain especially impacting companies with global supply chains. These include cultural differences in multinational operations, environmental risk, regulations risk, and exchange rate risk across multiple countries. Whether or not demand
3672-527: Is thought [...] that very few if any of the website's staff will move sideways into jobs at GameSpot , now the company's other gaming asset." The Washington Post later noted that Gamecenter was among the "popular video-game news sites" to close in 2001, alongside Daily Radar . In January 2013, CNET named Dish Network 's "Hopper with Sling " digital video recorder as a nominee for the CES "Best in Show" award (which
3780-422: Is used to distinguish them from " white goods ", which are meant for housekeeping tasks, such as washing machines and refrigerators . In British English, they are often called brown goods by producers and sellers. In the 2010s, this distinction is absent in large big box consumer electronics stores , which sell entertainment, communication and home office devices, light fixtures and appliances, including
3888-513: Is used within some consumer electronics, such as mobile phones . This type of software may be embedded within the hardware of electronic devices. Some consumer electronics include software that is used on a personal computer in conjunction with electronic devices, such as camcorders and digital cameras , and third-party software for such devices also exists. Some consumer electronics adhere to protocols, such as connection protocols "to high speed bi-directional signals". In telecommunications ,
3996-630: The Clear Channel -owned KNEW (910) in the San Francisco Bay Area , WBPS (890) in Boston , and XM Satellite Radio . CNET Radio offered technology-themed programming. After failing to attract a sufficient audience, CNET Radio ceased operating in January 2003 due to financial losses. In July 1999, CNET, Inc. acquired the Swiss -based company GDT, later renamed to CNET Channel. In 1998, CNET, Inc. granted
4104-553: The International Energy Agency in 2014 found that $ 80 billion of power is wasted globally per year due to inefficiency of electronic devices. Consumers can reduce unwanted use of standby power by unplugging their devices, using power strips with switches, or by buying devices that are standardized for better energy management, particularly Energy Star -marked products. A high number of different metals and low concentration rates in electronics means that recycling
4212-441: The ubiquity of these goods, their diffusion is not well understood. Some types of appliances diffuse more frequently than others. In particular, home entertainment appliances such as radio and television have diffused much faster than household and kitchen machines." Consumer electronics devices include those used for Increasingly consumer electronics products such as digital distribution of video games have become based on
4320-404: The 1980s and 1990s, followed by DVD players and Blu-ray players). Stores also sell smart light fixtures and appliances , digital cameras , camcorders , mobile phones , and smartphones . Some of the newer products sold include virtual reality head-mounted display goggles, smart home devices that connect home devices to the Internet , streaming devices, and wearable technology . In
4428-571: The 2000 sale of Ziff Davis to SoftBank , a publicly traded Japanese media and technology company. In April 2001, CNET acquired TechRepublic , which provides content for IT professionals from Gartner , for $ 23 million in cash and stock. In May 2002, CNET Networks acquired Smartshop, an automated product catalog and feature comparison technology company, for an undisclosed amount. On July 14, 2004, CNET Networks announced that it would acquire photography website Webshots for $ 70 million ($ 60 million in cash, $ 10 million in deferred consideration), completing
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4536-520: The 2010s, most consumer electronics have become based on digital technologies. They have essentially merged with the computer industry in what is increasingly referred to as the consumerization of information technology . Some consumer electronics stores have also begun selling office and baby furniture . Consumer electronics stores may be " brick and mortar " physical retail stores, online stores, or combinations of both. Annual consumer electronics sales are expected to reach $ 2.9 trillion by 2020. It
4644-560: The 20th century and has become a global industry worth billions of dollars. Contemporary society uses all manner of electronic devices built-in automated or semi-automated factories operated by the industry. Most consumer electronics are built in China, due to maintenance cost, availability of materials, quality, and speed as opposed to other countries such as the United States. Cities such as Shenzhen have become important production centres for
4752-510: The Best in Show award to the Razer Edge tablet instead. Dish Network's CEO Joe Clayton said that the company was "saddened that CNET's staff is being denied its editorial independence because of CBS' heavy-handed tactics." On January 14, 2013, editor-in-chief Lindsey Turrentine addressed the situation, stating that CNET's staff were in an "impossible" situation due to the conflict of interest posed by
4860-504: The CEA, stating that "making television easier to watch is not against the law. It is simply pro-innovation and pro-consumer." Shapiro felt that the decision also hurt the confidence of CNET's readers and staff, "destroying its reputation for editorial integrity in an attempt to eliminate a new market competitor." As a result of the controversy and fearing damage to the show's brand, the CEA announced on January 31, 2013, that CNET will no longer decide
4968-572: The CES Best in Show award winner due to the interference of CBS (the position has been offered to other technology publications), and the "Best in Show" award was jointly awarded to both the Hopper with Sling and Razer Edge. With a catalog of more than 400,000 titles, the Downloads section of the website allows users to download popular software. CNET's download.com provides Windows , Macintosh , and mobile software for download. CNET claims that this software
5076-577: The Forget-Me-Not brand was launched in 1993. In July 1997, American Greetings launched its "The All New American Way" marketing strategy that consisted of massive revamping of its everyday card lines over the next year and a half to meet nine American cultural trends. In the 1990s, American Greetings pushed more into international markets. Acquisition occurred in 1995 with a purchase of 80% share of S.A. Greetings Corporation in South Africa and in 1996 with
5184-515: The Forget-Me-Not card line. Irving and his brothers changed their last name to Stone in the 1940s. American Greeting Publishers was incorporated in 1944. John Sands Pty. Ltd. of Sydney, Australia and the company signed a licensing agreement, the firm's first, in 1949. The company changed its name to American Greetings Corporation as the company went public in 1952, issuing 200,000 shares. The funds raised were earmarked for acquisitions and expansion. In 1956, American Greetings formed Carlton Cards, Ltd.,
5292-472: The US, Malaysia, China, India, and Hungary. The increase in popularity of such domestic appliances as ' white goods ' is a characteristic element of consumption patterns during the golden age of the Western economy. Europe's White Goods industry has evolved over the past 40 years, first by changing tariff barriers, and later by technical and demand shifts. The spending on domestic appliances has claimed only
5400-698: The US, in March 1996, which was rejected. In 1999, the company agreed to buy rival Gibson Greetings and united the second and third largest U.S. greeting card makers. Through the Gibson purchase, American gained its strong UK unit and a 27% stake in Egreetings Network Inc. In 1998, the company shares moved from trading on the NASDAQ to the New York Stock Exchange . AmericanGreetings.com, Inc., while not turning
5508-590: The United States, dedicated consumer electronics stores have mostly given way to big-box stores such as Best Buy , the largest consumer electronics retailer in the country, although smaller dedicated stores include Apple Stores , and specialist stores that serve, for example, audiophiles and exceptions, such as the single-branch B&H Photo store in New York City. Broad-based retailers, such as Walmart and Target , also sell consumer electronics in many of their stores. In April 2014, retail e-commerce sales were
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#17330923516155616-498: The acquisition brought both GameSpot and Gamecenter under CNET, Inc.'s ownership. Later that year, The New York Times described the two publications as the " Time and Newsweek of gaming sites". The paper reported that Gamecenter "seem[ed] to be thriving" amid the dot-com crash , with its revenue distributed across online advertising and an affiliate sales program with CNET's Game Shopper website, launched in late 1999. Following an almost $ 400 million loss at CNET as
5724-473: The acquisition that same month. In October 2007, it sold Webshots to American Greetings for $ 45 million. In August 2005, CNET Networks acquired Metacritic , a review aggregation website , for an undisclosed amount. In 2005, Google representatives refused to be interviewed by all CNET reporters for a year after CNET published Google's CEO Eric Schmidt 's salary and named the neighborhood where he lives, as well as some of his hobbies and political donations. All
5832-592: The bathroom type. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver . Later products included telephones , televisions , and calculators , then audio and video recorders and players, video game consoles , mobile phones , personal computers and MP3 players . In the 2010s, consumer electronics stores often sell GPS , automotive electronics ( vehicle audio ), video game consoles , electronic musical instruments (e.g., synthesizer keyboards), karaoke machines, digital cameras , and video players ( VCRs in
5940-822: The building from the Wiess family until August 2031. American Greetings forced Clinton Cards PLC in May 2012 into administration. In June, American Greetings acquired assets from Clinton Cards together with some of its subsidiaries including UK Greetings. UK Greetings' card brands at the time were Camden Graphics, Hanson White, Forget Me Not and Xpressions. Clinton operated stores under the Clinton and Birthdays brands. American Greetings brought in Dominique Schurman, CEO of Schurman Retail Group, to lead Clinton. American Greetings went private once again in mid-2013, thus removing itself from all
6048-616: The company closed its DesignWare plant in Kalamazoo as the company moved to Amscan for manufacturing their party goods. American Greetings received $ 25 million and a warrant for 2 percent of common stock in AAH Holdings , Amscan's parent corporation, while Amscan received inventory, equipment and processes. In Mexico, the company moved strategically to a third party distributor model and closed its warehouse there. In 2010, American Greetings planned to move its headquarters from Brooklyn, Ohio to
6156-455: The company purchased Blue Mountain Arts (BlueMountain.com) from Excite@Home with Excite to buy ads on American Greeting websites and Blue Mountain would continue providing ecards for Excite. The company thus had four online greeting cards website including BeatGreets.com, a musical greetings website. While the online operations expected to become profitable by the fourth quarter 2002, the division had
6264-550: The development of software to aid the sales force, to managers and their retailers in order to track inventories and trends. The following year, Weiss and Fruchtenbaum were promoted again to chairman/CEO and president/chief operating officer, respectively, with Irving Stone becoming founder-chairman. Custom Expressions, Inc., the CreataCard producer, was acquired in 1992, The CreataCard units had 1,000 card options and printed cards in under four minutes for $ 3.50 each. The company placed
6372-537: The earliest transistors at Bell led to transistor radios . This led to the emergence of the home entertainment consumer electronics industry starting in the 1950s, largely due to the efforts of Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (now Sony ) in successfully commercializing transistor technology for a mass market, with affordable transistor radios and then transistorized television sets . Integrated circuits (ICs) followed when manufacturers built circuits (usually for military purposes) on
6480-426: The early 2000s, many consumer electronics devices such as televisions and stereo systems, were digitized: digital computer technology, and thus digital signals, were integrated into the operation of consumer electronics devices, drastically changing their operation but with improved results such as improved image quality in televisions. This was made possible by Moore's law . In 2004, the consumer electronics industry
6588-554: The highest in the consumer electronic and computer categories as well. Some consumer electronics retailers offer extended warranties on products with programs such as SquareTrade . An electronics district is an area of commerce with a high density of retail stores that sell consumer electronics. Consumer electronic service can refer to the maintenance of said products. When consumer electronics have malfunctions, they may sometimes be repaired. In 2013, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
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#17330923516156696-424: The increased popularity in listening to sound from analog audio devices, such as phonographs , as opposed to digital sound, has sparked a noticeable increase of business for the electronic repair industry there. A mobile phone , cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, or hand phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over
6804-523: The industry to develop a number of technologies, such as WirelessHD or ITU-T G.hn , which are optimized for distribution of HD content between consumer electronic devices in a home. The consumer electronics industry faces consumers with unpredictable tastes on the demand side, supplier-related delays or disruptions on the supply side, and production challenges occurring in the process. The high rate of technology evolution or revolution requires large investments without any guarantee of profitable returns. As
6912-548: The industry, attracting many consumer electronics companies such as Apple Inc. An electronic component is any essential discrete device or physical entity in an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic components are mostly industrial products, available in a singular form, and are not to be confused with electrical elements , conceptual abstractions representing idealized electronic components. Consumer electronics such as personal computers use various types of software. Embedded software
7020-528: The information had been gleaned from Google searches. In September 2006, CNET acquired Chowhound , an online food community. On October 10, 2006, Shelby Bonnie resigned as chairman and CEO , in addition to two other executives, as a result of a stock options backdating scandal that occurred between 1996 and 2003. This would also cause the firm to restate its financial earnings over 1996 to 2003 for over $ 105 million in resulting expenses. The Securities and Exchange Commission later dropped an investigation into
7128-598: The internet and digital technologies. The consumer electronics industry has primarily merged with the software industry in what is increasingly referred to as the consumerization of information technology . One overriding characteristic of consumer electronic products is the trend of ever-falling prices. This is driven by gains in manufacturing efficiency and automation , lower labor costs as manufacturing has moved to lower-wage countries, and improvements in semiconductor design. Semiconductor components benefit from Moore's law , an observed principle which states that, for
7236-466: The internet. The units were partially written off. American had also made deals with online services, Prodigy, CompuServe, and Microsoft Network in early 1996. Their website was redesigned to allow the cards to be designed on the website then mailed from its Cleveland fulfillment center in 1997. Two CD-ROM products, Personal CardShop for Home and Office and CreataCard Plus, were published. Both allowed for personalization. CardShop had 150 card choices and used
7344-545: The lenses can separate from the frames, posing a choking hazard to young children. American Greetings purchased Recycled Paper Greetings in February 2009. Two months later, in two cash deals with Schurman Fine Papers on April 17, the company sold its remaining 341 stores to them, and in the second deal bought Schurman's wholesale division, Papyrus brand cards and paper products, and a 15% equity stake in Schurman. In April 2010,
7452-454: The market. Sapirstein Greeting began in 1932 making its own greeting cards. In 1934, the company began hiring sales representatives. Harry, the youngest son, joined the business in 1935. In 1936, the company opened its first branch office and the first major manufacturing facility. Sapirstein Greeting Card Co. was renamed in 1938 to American Greetings Publishers. In 1939, the firm first issued
7560-411: The modem to order them to be printed and mailed by their fulfillment center. CreataCard had 3,000 predesigned greeting cards, invitations, stationery, and announcements, and three methods of fulfillment: print on home printer, by e-mail or via the company's center. In the mid-1990s, American Greetings expanded its operations with acquisitions or starting up of new lines of business, and starting in 1996,
7668-614: The name GuildHouse. A supplemental educational products subsidiary, Learning Horizons, Inc., was set up in March 1997, but in August American Greetings sold two subsidiaries, Acme Frame Products, Inc. and Wilhold Inc., producer of hair accessory products, to Newell Company . Contempo Colours, a party goods company in Michigan with licenses included Monopoly and Sesame Street , was bought in August 1999 to add to DesignWare. In Canada,
7776-503: The offered greeting cards to 10,000 from 15,000. The firm also shifted to recognizing sales at the retailer's register, not when it was stocked on the retailer's shelves in order to better control inventory. This cost them $ 300 million, and was highly unprofitable in the 2001 and 2002 fiscal years. In its online sector in 2001, American Greeting purchased the Egreetings Network shares that Gibson did not already own. In January 2002,
7884-421: The ones using electronics the most. "People who frequently use their thumbs to type text messages on cell phones can develop a painful affliction called De Quervain syndrome that affects their tendons on their hands. The best-known disease in this category is called carpal tunnel syndrome , which results from pressure on the median nerve in the wrist". American Greetings American Greetings Corporation
7992-527: The practice. Neil Ashe was named as the new CEO. In December 2006, James Kim , an editor at CNET, died in the Oregon wilderness. CNET hosted a memorial show and podcasts dedicated to him. On March 1, 2007, CNET announced the public launch of BNET, a website targeted towards business managers. BNET had been running under beta status since 2005. In 2008 programmer Chris Wanstrath , who worked on GameSpot and Chowhound, left CNET to start GitHub . On May 15, 2008, it
8100-403: The produced electronic waste from developed countries is exported, and handled by the informal sector in countries like India, despite the fact that exporting electronic waste to them is illegal. Strong informal sector can be a problem for the safe and clean recycling. E-waste policy has gone through various incarnations since the 1970s, with emphases changing as the decades passed. More weight
8208-477: The promotion of sideline product categories to semi-autonomous units. A reading glasses manufacturer, Magnivision, was purchased in 1993. In 1996, the party goods line was relaunched under the DesignWare name. The same year, American Greetings entered discussions with BEC Group Inc. to acquire Foster Grant Group , a sunglasses manufacturer, but declined to pursue the purchase. A candle line was relaunched in 1997 under
8316-526: The public markets, agreeing to pay $ 18.20 per share, valuing the company at $ 878 million. The Weiss family-owned Century Intermediate Holding Co. purchased the public shares. In 2018, the Weiss family sold a 60% majority stake of the company to the investment firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). The Weiss Family would continue to operate as directors and shareholders of American Greetings as well as retain ownership of American Greetings Entertainment, which
8424-476: The purchase of John Sands , the top greeting card company in both Australia and New Zealand. In 1998, Camden Graphics Group and Hanson White Ltd. were purchased to add to its UK operations, while in 1999, a majority stake in Memory Lane Sdn Bhd , a Malaysian greeting card company, brought American to Asia for the first time. American Greetings made a bid for Gibson Greetings , the third top card maker in
8532-573: The raw materials. The energy consumption of consumer electronics and their environmental impact, either from their production processes or the disposal of the devices, is increasing steadily. EIA estimates that electronic devices and gadgets account for about 10%–15% of the energy use in American homes – largely because of their number; the average house has dozens of electronic devices. The energy consumption of consumer electronics increases – in America and Europe – to about 50% of household consumption if
8640-643: The retiring CEO Beeder was replaced by Joe Arcuri. In January 2020, partially owned Schurman Retail Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy , resulting in the closing of all of its stores, including American Greetings locations. Acquired in 1999, Gibson was founded by brothers George, Robert, Samuel and Stephen in 1855 as Gibson & Company, Lithographers in Cincinnati . It eventually began making greeting cards in 1860s and 1870s, sold to brother George as Gibson Arts in 1883 and Gibson Greeting Cards Inc. in 1960. After being under RCA Corporation and other owners it
8748-503: The right to Asiacontent.com to set up CNET Asia and the operation was brought back in December 2000. In January 2000, the same time CNET, Inc. became CNET Networks, it acquired comparison shopping site mySimon for $ 736 million. In October 2000, CNET Networks acquired ZDNET for approximately $ 1.6 billion. In January 2001, Ziff Davis reached an agreement with CNET Networks to regain the URLs lost in
8856-423: The scandal and layoffs, saying AI-generated content posed a danger to their professional reputations. A former staffer demanded that her byline be removed from the site, in order to protect her reputation if her articles were revised by AI. In August 2023, CNET had deleted thousands of old articles from their website in an effort to raise the search engine optimization rankings on Google Search . Before an article
8964-547: The site received between 50,000 and 75,000 daily visitors by late 2000. In May 2000, CNET founded the Gamecenter Alliance network to bring Gamecenter and four partner websites, including Inside Mac Games , under one banner. Nielsen//NetRatings ranked Gamecenter the sixth-most-popular gaming website in the United States by mid-2000. On July 19, 2000, CNET, Inc. made public its plan to buy Ziff-Davis and its ZDNet Internet business for $ 1.6 billion. Because ZDNet had partnered with SpotMedia—parent company of GameSpot —in late 1996,
9072-539: The site's owner, had its initial public offering (IPO) in July 1996. In 1998, CNET, Inc. was sued by Snap Technologies, operators of the education service CollegeEdge, for trademark infringement relating to CNET, Inc.'s ownership of the domain name Snap.com, due to Snap Technologies already owning a trademark on its name . CNET produced another television technology news program called News.com that aired on CNBC beginning in 1999. From 2001 to 2003, it operated CNET Radio on
9180-485: The situation, and promised that she would do everything within her power to prevent a similar incident from occurring again. The conflict also prompted one CNET senior writer, Greg Sandoval, to resign. The decision also drew the ire of staff from the Consumer Electronics Association , the organizers of CES; CEO Gary J. Shapiro criticized the decision in a USA Today op-ed column and a statement by
9288-442: The sound so that it could be played through a loudspeaker . Television was soon invented but remained insignificant in the consumer market until the 1950s. The first working transistor , a point-contact transistor , was invented by John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain at Bell Labs in 1947, which led to significant research in the field of solid-state semiconductors in the early-1950s. The invention and development of
9396-881: The stigma for some of owning second-hand goods. But the benefits of reuse could allow lower-income households access to previously unaffordable technology while helping the environment at the same time. Desktop monitors and laptops produce major physical health concerns for humans when bodies are forced into unhealthy and uncomfortable positions to see the screen better. From this, neck and back pains and problems increase, commonly referred to as repetitive strain injuries . Using electronics before going to bed makes it difficult for people to fall asleep, hurting human health. Sleeping less prevents people from performing to their full potential physically and mentally and can also "increase rates of obesity and diabetes", which are "long-term health consequences". Obesity and diabetes are more commonly seen in students and in youth because they tend to be
9504-418: The term is redefined to include home appliances such as refrigerators , dryers , clothes washers and dishwashers . Standby power – used by consumer electronics and appliances while they are turned off – accounts for 5–10% of total household energy consumption, costing $ 100 annually to the average household in the United States. A study by United States Department of Energy 's Berkeley Lab found that
9612-596: The world's largest professional society, has many initiatives to advance the state of the art of consumer electronics. IEEE has a dedicated society of thousands of professionals to promote CE, called the Consumer Electronics Society (CESoc). IEEE has multiple periodicals and international conferences to promote CE and encourage collaborative research and development in CE. The flagship conference of CESoc, called IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE),
9720-438: The world's leading consumer electronics companies about their energy and resource consumption and the use of chemicals. Electronic devices use thousands rare metals and rare earth elements (40 on average for a smartphone ), these material are extracted and refined using water and energy-intensive processes. These metals are also used in the renewable energy industry meaning that consumer electronics are directly competing for
9828-592: Was Strawberry Shortcake , which generated in 1981 $ 500 million in retail sales, followed by the Care Bears with $ 2 billion in sales over its first two years. AG came back with a doubled net income by 1991 with 10 percent growth in sales to Hallmark's 1 percent. Weiss was promoted to CEO while Ed Fruchtenbaum was elevated as the fourth and first non-family president. Weiss had streamlined operations, cut costs, and decreased its card idea development time frame to market. Fruchtenbaum stressed information systems technology with
9936-442: Was a display fixture manufacturer. American Greeting had seen itself as a mass-marketer and was serving pharmacies, variety stores, discount stores, and supermarkets with low cost cards. Meanwhile, Hallmark Cards ignored the mass market outlets until 1959 with issuance of its Ambassador card line. The company then used its licensing revenue on national advertising and other efforts to gain market share from 1981 to 1985. While they had
10044-496: Was acquired by Ziff Davis . After leaving PepsiCo , Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie launched c/net, a 24-hour cable network about computers and technology in 1992. With help from Fox Network co-founder Kevin Wendle and former Disney creative associate Dan Baker, CNET produced four pilot television programs about computers, technology, and the Internet. CNET TV was composed of CNET Central , The Web , and The New Edge . CNET Central
10152-505: Was announced that CBS Corporation would buy CNET Networks for US$ 1.8 billion. On June 30, 2008, the acquisition was completed. Former CNET Networks properties were managed under CBS Interactive at the time. CBS Interactive acquired many domain names originally created by CNET Networks, including download.com , downloads.com, upload.com, news.com, search.com, TV.com , mp3.com , chat.com, computers.com, shopper.com, com.com, and cnet.com. It also held radio.com until CBS Radio
10260-572: Was completed in the third quarter of 2024. France websites: Japan websites: CNET launched a website to cover video games , CNET Gamecenter , in the middle of 1996. According to the San Francisco Chronicle , it was "one of the first Web sites devoted to computer gaming news". It became a leading game-focused website; in 1999, PC Magazine named it one of the hundred-best websites in any field, alongside competitors IGN and GameSpot . According to Gamecenter head Michael Brown,
10368-549: Was created first and aired in syndication in the United States on the USA Network . Later, it began airing on USA's sister network Sci-Fi Channel along with The Web and The New Edge . These were later followed by TV.com in 1996. Media personality Ryan Seacrest first came to national prominence at CNET, as the host of The New Edge and doing various voice-over work for CNET. CNET online launched in June 1995. CNET, Inc.,
10476-546: Was founded in 1906 by Polish immigrant Jacob Sapirstein (1885–1987), who sold cards to stores from a horse -drawn cart, American Greetings has been run by members of the family since its inception. Irving Sapirstein , Jacob's oldest son, became Jacob's first partner in 1918 at age nine. Irving's brother Morris started working at the card company in 1926. Morris and Irving in 1928 got a post card contract worth $ 24,000. The company started using self-serve display cabinets for its greeting cards in 1929 further cementing its position in
10584-417: Was gradually placed on the need to dispose of e-waste more carefully due to the toxic materials it may contain. There has also been recognition that various valuable metals and plastics from waste electrical equipment can be recycled for other uses. More recently, the desirability of reusing whole appliances has been foregrounded in the 'preparation for reuse' guidelines. The policy focus is slowly moving towards
10692-490: Was immediately resaleable – or would be with minor repairs or refurbishment. This indicates a lack of awareness among consumers about where and how to dispose of EEE and the potential value of things that are going in the bin. For the reuse and repair of electrical goods to increase substantially in the UK, some barriers must be overcome. These include people's mistrust of used equipment in terms of whether it will be functional, safe and
10800-460: Was introduced, claiming that CNET and CBS Interactive knowingly distributed LimeWire. On September 19, 2013, CBS Interactive launched a Spanish language sister site under the name CNET en Español. It focuses on topics of relevance primarily to Spanish-speaking technology enthusiasts. The site offered a "new perspective" on technology and is under the leadership of managing editor Gabriel Sama. The site not only offered news and tutorials, but also had
10908-504: Was profitable at the time. The approximate halving of CNET's value under Red Ventures' ownership is attributed to interest rates, a slower ad market, and the reputational damage to CNET caused by the AI scandals. On August 6, 2024, the New York Times reported that Red Ventures had reached an agreement to sell CNET to Ziff Davis for $ 100 million, subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition
11016-830: Was publishing content generated by artificial intelligence . In response to the decision, CNET claimed it maintained high editorial standards, stating, "It is important to clarify that CNET is not actively using AI to create new content. While we have no specific plans to restart, any future initiatives would follow our public AI policy." Consumer electronics Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic ( analog or digital ) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment , communications and recreation . These products are usually referred to as black goods in American English, due to many products being housed in black or dark casings. This term
11124-427: Was set up in 1969. In 1971, a retail subsidiary was formed called Summit Corporation, later called Carlton Cards Retail, Inc. Holly Hobbie premiered in 1967 as a line of greeting cards by American Greetings. The character's public appeal lead to the formation of Those Characters From Cleveland Inc. Sale the next year topped $ 100 million. In 1972, the company introduced Ziggy, created by Tom Wilson , which soon had
11232-463: Was sold to Entercom in 2017. In 2011, CNET and CBS Interactive were sued by a coalition of artists (led by FilmOn founder Alki David) for copyright infringement by promoting the download of LimeWire , a popular peer to peer downloading software. Although the original suit was voluntarily dropped by Alki David, he vowed to sue at a later date to bring "expanded" action against CBS Interactive. In November 2011, another lawsuit against CBS Interactive
11340-565: Was spun off as Cloudco Entertainment . UK Greetings continued with American Greetings under CD&R while the Clintons retail chain in the UK remained with the Weiss family. On closing of the deal, David Scheible was named Chairman in place of Morry Weiss and President John Beeder was promoted to CEO (the former chairman and co-CEOs remaining on the board). In January 2019, the Weiss family placed AG's headquarters up for sale. Scheible had been replaced by John Compton as chairman. On March 1, 2019,
11448-529: Was terminated in June 2000 for insider trading policy violation after the board learned that he purchased stock via options, then sold them in December 1998 before the announcement of the new inventory system implementation's expected loss. Board member James C. Spira was then appointed vice-chairman. In November 2000, Spira was appointed to oversee a massive overhaul. The company cut 1,500 jobs, closed six manufacturing and distribution centers, discontinued Forget-Me-Not, one of its four main U.S. card brands, and cut
11556-570: Was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through that unit's acquisition of CNET Networks in 2008. Following acquisition by Red Ventures on October 30, 2020, the website faced criticism for the decline in quality of its editorial content and its factual unreliability due to the use of generative AI in the creation of its articles, as well as concerns over its journalistic integrity after it began increased publication of biased reviews and sponsored content to benefit its advertising partners. On October 1, 2024, CNET
11664-508: Was worth US$ 240 billion annually worldwide comprising visual equipment, audio equipment , and games consoles . It was truly global with Asia Pacific having 35% market share, Europe having 31.5%, the US having 23%, and the rest of the world having the rest. Major players in this industry are household names like Sony, Samsung, Philips, Sanyo, and Sharp. Samsung Electronics is part of Samsung . In 2003, combined revenues for Samsung Electronics were $ 55 billion. Samsung Electronics UK
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