CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[eman]

The Old School Electronics idea has been something I've thought about for a while. I used to sell electronics for Sears. One thing that I noticed while I worked there was that there quite a few customers that were always looking for turntables, console TV's, etc.
I left for a different job right about at the time when more digital equipment was coming out. The first DVD players, HDTV, MP3, etc. Analog was now on it's way out.
As we all know though, electronic's manufacturing company's feel the need to phase out some format's due to newer, smaller, and argueably better format's. For example, record players started phasing out with the introduction of CD's. So, if new formats are supposed to be much more superior, than the question that pops up is why keep making the old formats.
Here a few reasons:
1. Collections. Many people still have old LP's, 8 tracks, LD's, CED's, etc.
2. Nostalgia. Console TV's. B&W TV's, Early 1900's turntables, radio's, etc.
3. History. It's nice to know or learn about what came before what we have now.
4. Rareity. I didn't even know what CED's were until a few weeks ago. Who knows if the "Outdated" a/v formats we may own right now aren't quite possibly the new "baseball cards in the bicycle spokes" of the future?
5. A Difference. It's something that most people don't have or can't buy in any retail store. It's kind of fun when your friends are showing off their new DVD player that anyone can buy, and you show them your CED player.

As far as starting a store, I personally would not be an expert on how to go about getting a retail store started, but I have a couple idea's that could make it a success. I think you could basically have three parts to make it work.

1. A custom made "Old School Electronic's Hall of Fame Museum" with at least one of every kind of player, working or non-working, with information available on each product. To be eligible to be in the Museum, the product would have to be at least 15 years old.

2. The retail store would probably need new product from manufactures. We know that nobody is making CED players anymore. To ask for every major electronic's company to start making new product wouldn't probably be the best idea. There are quite a few company's out there though that seem like they are constantly fighting to make ends meet though. If there was one company that decided they would get on board to make new,"Old Format" players, it could be profitable for the store and them.

3. Technical support area. The store could offer to "buy" any old product from a customer, working or non-working to be applied to in-store credit.
In-store credit could be used to purchase a ticket into the museum, towards new products from the store, or towards refurbished products by the technical support area. Technicians and/or salespeople that have a love for old electronics and/or know how to fix old equipment would be essential.

Anyway, this is just an idea. It would definitely be a risk, but I do believe that if it was kept small at first, and got good word of mouth, it could grow to be a very cool place to shop for electronics. Please vote in the poll from a previous post(6 new CED's for sale).

Sincerely,
Eric E.

[Total Rewind]

I can certainly agree about the interest and the idea of a museum - since I run one myself, albeit only online, based on my own collection of vintage VCRs and VDPs. I've often wondered if it would work as a real museum, perhaps a little tourist attraction somewhere... one of my possible retirement plans!

I get 100 - 200 visitors a day, which is quite respectable for such a niche interest, I think. The people who mail me are a combination of older people who are nostalgic for the systems they used in the past, and younger ones who love the retro technology.

But as for a retail store, would there be enough customers in any particular area? Sites like CED magic and my own work because they're worldwide, so even if there's only a few hundred CED fans out there, they can all find them.

I do like the idea of "new" old players - that never occurred to me! But who would take the financial hit to tool up for things like CED styluses, with such a small market?


Andy

Total Rewind - the Virtual Museum of Vintage VCRs
http://www.totalrewind.org

[joplinced]

If there was a store like this in my area I'd be one of its biggest supporters, but in reality most folks want the newest and best technology available. When I show someone a CED player, reel to reel recorder, old turntable, etc.. they usually think I'm stupid asking why I don't have the newest stuff available. They just don't understand the collecting purpose. Some people like us see the beauty in old electronics, but most don't.

Now, a store like this would probably do somewhat well in very large cities like Chicago, New York, LA... and I'm sure those cities already have stores meeting some old electronics needs, but I'd think it would be a tough go most anywhere else. If you collect old electronics, you already know the good "haunts" around your area to find stuff and use web resources like Ebay, etc.

Hey it's a great idea!, but to make a living at it by opening up a store would be questionable.