CED Digest Vol. 8 No. 47

CED Digest Vol. 8 No. 47 • 11/22/2003
20 Years Ago In CED History:

November 23, 1983:
* The Soviet Union pulls out of talks in Geneva on intermediate-range nuclear
forces to protest the planned deployment of new U.S. missiles in Western
Europe.

* RCA PRESS RELEASE:
RCA Adds Two Sales Executives to RCA VideoDisc Division

Reports First Agreement for System's Use in Commercial Application and Surge in
Player Sales Over Past 8 Weeks

The RCA VideoDisc Division has added two experienced sales executives in an
expansion of key marketing activities involving both the consumer market and
new sales opportunities for the company's line of players and discs.

Joseph P. Clayton has been named to the new position of Vice President,
Consumer Sales, and Paul I. Anderson assumes sales responsibility for
interactive video discs as Vice President, Commercial Sales, RCA VideoDisc
Operations.

Mr. Clayton, presently Vice President and General Manager of the RCA
Distributing Corporation branch in Chicago, had previously held major sales
positions in the New York and Detroit branches. In his new position, he will
report to Arnold T. Valencia, Division Vice President and General Manager of
the recently formed RCA VideoDisc Division, along with Herbert J. Mendelsohn,
Division Vice President, Advertising and Merchandising.

Mr. Anderson joined RCA VideoDisc Operations in Indianapolis from the Rayovac
Corporation where he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the
Consumer Products Group. He had previously been with the 3M Company for
twenty-three years, primarily in sales and marketing positions. Mr. Anderson
will report to Dr. Jay J. Brandinger, Division Vice President and General
Manager, VideoDisc Operations.

"The appointments are part of an overall restructuring that will help the
RCA 'CED' system take specific advantage of broader sales opportunities in all
segments of the market," Mr. Valencia said.

He noted the following favorable factors that have recently affected RCA
VideoDisc players and discs:

-- RCA has signed a contract with a manufacturer that will result in the RCA
VideoDisc system being used in a significant commercial application. RCA's new
deluxe Random Access player will be used.

-- Sales to dealers of RCA VideoDisc players over the past 8 weeks have been
nearly 5 times greater than the same period a year ago following the
introduction of a promotion whereby players are being sold at retail for $199.

-- RCA's recent emphasis on music video has generated significant dealer orders
for a "six-pack" of stereo music discs now being offered to consumers
in a promotion running until December 24th.

Mr. Valencia noted that "the positive direction of VideoDisc sales at the
retail level and the new opportunities for business in non-consumer markets
have touched all pricing points" in RCA's player line which ranged in
optional retail price up to $499.95 for the new Random Access player with
interactive applications.

He said it is increasingly clear that an important segment of the total market
will respond to the value offered in a player priced in the area of $200 at
retail. RCA's current promotion in that pricing area involves a lead model
monaural player that does not contain such features as pause control or visual
search.

Recognizing the importance of lower prices for both players and discs in an
expanding video products market, Mr. Valencia said, "A total, cost-driven
effort is under way in both the software and hardware segments of RCA's
VideoDisc business so that the potential of video discs as an entertainment,
educational and informational medium can be realized as quickly as
possible."

"The product introduction phase is now complete; the more critical next
step is to intensify public awareness of the simplicity and outstanding value
of the 'CED' system," Mr. Valencia said.

As part of the focused sales effort for VideoDisc, Mr. Clayton will direct a
separate field sales group that will be responsible for consumer sales of both
players and discs. Previously, player sales were handled by the RCA Sales
Corporation in Indianapolis and disc sales were the responsibility of RCA
VideoDiscs, headquartered in New York.

Mr. Mendelsohn, in addition to heading the merchandising activities for the
VideoDisc players and discs, will also be responsible for the RCA VideoDisc
Division's advertising effort.

November 24, 1983:
* Israel releases some 4,500 Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners in exchange for
the return of six of its captured soldiers.

November 25, 1983:
* Union printers in Great Britain walk off the job in a labor dispute between
the National Graphical Association and newspaper management.
* Future CED title in widespread theatrical release: Terms of Endearment.

November 26, 1983:
* Six hooded gunmen steal almost $40 million in gold and diamonds from a
warehouse near London's Heathrow Airport in the largest theft in British
history.
* UNESCO concludes its five-week conference in Paris after approving a two-year
study on the influence of news organizations on less developed countries and
international relations. The U.S. had successfully argued against an
international code for journalists, saying it would limit freedom of the press.
* "Metal Health" by Quiet Riot becomes the No. 1 U.S. album.

November 27, 1983:
* A Boeing 747 operated by Columbia's Avianca airlines crashes on its approach
to Madrid's Barajas airport; at least 183 people are killed, in one of the ten
worst aviation crashes in history.

November 28, 1983:
* A Nigeria Airways airliner crashes 300 miles east of Lagos; at least 53
people are killed.
* The space shuttle Columbia lifts off on mission STS-9 carrying Spacelab, a
European-built research laboratory, in its cargo bay. The crew of six includes
Ulf Merbold, a West German physicist who is the first non-American to fly in
the shuttle.
* Actor Christopher George dies of a heart attack at the age of 54. Best known
for his role in "The Rat Patrol" television series, he appears in the
CED titles El Dorado, The Shootist, The Exterminator, Graduation Day, and Enter
the Ninja.

November 29, 1983:
* Winding up two days of talks in Washington with Israel's Prime Minister
Yitzhak Shamir, President Reagan announces that they "have agreed to
establish a joint political-military group to examine ways in which we can
enhance Israeli-US cooperation."
* The Dow Jones industrial average closes at a record high of 1,287.20.
* A summary of an international meeting in Geneva on acquired immune deficiency
syndrome (AIDS) indicates that so far about 3,000 cases have been positively
diagnosed worldwide. Of these, 2,753 have been in he United States, 50 in
Canada, and 267 in Europe.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 11:29:06 -0500
To: digest@cedmagic.com
From: "James M. Long" <jmlong>
Subject: Thanks, suggestion, and observations

Thanks: Thank you for all the offers re: SFT100, I am all set.  I appreciate
the time some of you took to contact me and offer up a machine and/or advice on
getting one.

Suggestion: to James Curiel: With all due respect, as soon as I see your name
in a digest entry I skip right over it, because I am willing to bet there is a
strong chance that it will be another glowing testimonial of your Nitty Gritty
experience.  Thanks for the tip.  Thanks for the tip again.  Thanks again for
that tip...

I realize that your time is at a premium (as your unfortunate need to cell
CEDCentral demonstrates), but why not put together some sort of page (pictures,
links, etc.) that Tom could (if he were interested) conform to his site design
and post to CEDMagic?  I have seen the pages on your site, but the future of
this site is in doubt (as I understand it) - while Tom's seems likely to be
around for some time to come.  I also know that there is a bit of controversy
regarding cleaning methods; you could add some sort of clever disclaimer at the
bottom so that neither you nor Tom would be flamed for someone's inability to
follow directions precisely.

Again, I don't mean to be a jerk, but three descriptions in the last 6 weeks
(not to mention another 4 in the archives) of the Nitty method is enough
already.

We have seen (with all of those "hey mr tom how can i fnd a needle does
radio shak have them?" posts) that people rarely give the depth of all
that CEDMagic has to offer a shot ("Dear Needle Seeker: Try the
classifieds that are up, or the link to CEDCentral, or the parts distributor
list, or the nice link that automatically does an eBay search for you,
or...") before sending info requests.  But why not give them (us?) the
benefit of the doubt?  Post the Nitty Gritty suggestions somewhere permanent
(besides the digest archives)!

For myself, the only step I take before using the play-to-clean method that Tom
describes is to take the disc out and check to see if its condition merits a
once-over with a VERY soft, long-bristled camel-hair paint brush to brush aside
any particularly large chunks of dust or similar.  This has worked well on a
number of occasions.

Observations: I had an interesting moment this weekend when I pulled out
Amadeus: both part 1 and part 2 have only one dot on the spine as opposed to
the more customary 1- and 2-dot indicators.  Anyone spot this anywhere else?
These caddy-inconsistency polls usually don't go too far, but hey, worth a
shot.

Jim Long

------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Tom Howe <tom@cedmagic.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 19:24:11 -0800
Subject: RCA Replacement Remotes
To: digest@cedmagic.com

Hello All:

I recently came across this site called Replacement Remotes that has a wide
variety of old remote controls for sale:

http://replacementremotes.com/

They are not cheap, but it appears they have refurbished a lot of what they
sell, meaning the remote has been disassembled and cleaned, and when
applicable, the carbon contacts under the buttons have been restored. Here are
the RCA CED-related remotes they have in stock as I type this, in quantities of
one to a few units each:

1457636-501   CRK34A   Original SGT250 Remote   $42

1457636-504   CRK34D   Original SJT300 Remote   $42

CRK33H   RCA TV Remote (requires capacitor sub. for SGT250/SJT300 use)   $49

CRK36A   Original SJT400 Random Access Control Center   $38

CRK32E   RCA Digital Command Center for SJT400/SKT400   $32

CRK35A   Dimensia Remote for SJT400/SKT400 (via VID2 button)   $28

You can find these either by browsing their RCA listings or by typing the first
number in each line into their search box.

--Tom
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