When I was growing up, my parents had a 20-inch Sony Trinitron television. There was a 25-inch model, but having a TV that big seemed vulgar. When I would ask my father why he didn’t splash out for the bigger set, he would say, “Who am I, George Lucas?”
It seems almost quaint now. These days you would be hard-pressed to even find a 20-inch display. Maybe there is a L’il Couch Potato model from Fisher-Price that runs that small, but TVs continue to grow at a steroidal rate. Last year, the size of the average TV sold in North America was 38 inches, and you can buy an 80-inch model for a little more than $4,000.
Measurements like these begin to lose their impact unless you really think about them. Televisions are getting huge. Eighty inches is 6 feet 8 inches. That is as big as Carmelo Anthony of the Knicks. If Carmelo Anthony moved into your living room, you would notice.
via New York Times
February 8, 2012
