I drove by Durham the other night and saw the beam of light radiating from Spanish artist Jaume Plensa’s “Sleep No More” piece. I consider myself a “patron” of the arts, but this Highbeam To Heaven does nothing for me. I can’t stop thinking it’s just more light pollution blotting out the true beauty of the night sky.
March 5, 2009
View-Master scenic reels being discontinued
Remember how I was waxing nostalgic about View-Masters last year? Word comes today that Mattel has stopped making the View-Master scenic reels, only leaving the animated ones like Dora and Shrek.
Listen to this moronic analyst:
Toy industry analyst Sean McGowan with Needham & Co. said View-Master has been in decline since its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s.
“That’s not what the kids are looking for in the back seat of the car,” he said. “They’re looking for a DVD that plays on the back of Daddy’s seat.”
Yeah, kids aren’t looking for books in the back seat of the car, either, but that doesn’t mean books are endangered.
I believe the View-Master is in decline because it hasn’t been marketed at all. It’s a device that has entertained children and adults for generations – and would continue to do so, given the chance. It needs no electricity, you can drop it and it still works, and what other 3-D toys are out there, seventy years since its invention?
Someone should buy that business from Mattel and run it properly.