Sponsor's Message

If you're not familiar with the term, it's when manufacturers load up their products with a huge array of "features" that do nothing to improve the basic function or operation of their product, and then charge an arm and a leg for this stuff you neither want nor need.

When I was shopping for a new camcorder recently I discovered that consumer electronics have really fallen victim to RF in a big way.

All I wanted was a nice affordable digital camera that would provide a high-quality picture, a good optical zoom and a reasonable battery life.

Fat chance.

It seems that even the cheapest models are loaded with a list of "features" as long as your arm, and as you move up the range towards those with a really good picture quality, you end up paying for totally superfluous dross like Bluetooth, webcam, web-browsing, and a mind-boggling array of "digital image effects".

Readers Say (updated irregularly) Solid Core concept... - Don Totally agree... - Trent AV Receiver Simplicity... - David Have Your Say

What ever happened to focusing on the core performance ahead of the bells and whistles?

When you're trying to get the maximum value for money it's incredibly frustrating to find that manufacturers are forcing you to buy functions you'll never ever use.

When questioned, the manufacturers agents told me that the configuration of their products were determined by the demands of the market. Perhaps this is so -- but hands up all those who really want to pay several hundred dollars more for a camera just because it has Bluetooth connectivity.

Of course this RF problem has also plagued software, with much the same results.

Look at Microsoft Windows for example. Windows comes with a web browser, email client, media-player, graphics editing programs, text editors, etc, etc -- but I'm sure most of us would swap these for rock-solid security in the blink of an eye.

Perhaps there's a growing gap in the consumer electronics marketplace that some clever company will recognise and set out to fill. I'm talking about "Strong Core" (SC) products. Those where virtually all the purchase price goes towards providing the best picture or sound quality rather than a myriad of largely superfluous little buttons, beeps and trinkets.

A number of companies servicing the audiophile market have done very well by adopting this philosophy. Top-line audio gear is often incredibly spartan in appearance and lacking almost all the flashing lights, plasma displays and "jiggy-bass maximization" you find on those $499 mini-systems.

Could we perhaps see the same SC concept applied to camcorders, VCRs, TV sets and (gasp) even computer software?

Please??

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