I had a $100 gift certificate to Sharper Image and it took me over a year and probably 5 or 6 trips to the store until I found something I wanted. (A half-horsepower rotary nose hair trimmer with dual laser beams.)

I won't miss them. For this type of store, I've always preferred Brookstone anyway.

OMG!! Say it ain't so!!! Who next, Sky Mall???? Where's a guy with more money than brains supposed to shop??

The Apple Store

We spent half an hour in one of their store in Vegas. It looked interesting from the outside and once inside I just kept looking and looking for anything that one might actually buy. I concluded it must be some cultural thing that kept them in business cause damned if I could find anything in there remotely interesting.

Now on the other hand down here we have Gadget Central (I'd thought Sharper Image would be the same but with really sexy stuff, stupid me). Now Gadget Central do have desirable things like the USB Missile Launcher. Spot was so impressed by that executive toy I remember him posting a link to it.

Bob.

lmao@john

- Ray
www.undergroundplanet.com

> " until I found something I wanted. (A half-horsepower rotary nose hair trimmer with dual laser beams.)"

From your pic in the "What do you look like" thread John, you spent well - or was that a clone brush job in Photoshop? ;)

There indoor helicopter models were great.

Ooh, a USB missile launcher. Love that. We definitely have become an advanced civilization when someone can take the time to design and produce something like that.

As for Sharper Image, I had two of their showerhead shaving mirrors. Great shave, but the silver backing was made of plastic and lasted about four months. Went through two of them and gave up. Back in the late 80s, I got a fancy schmancy slide viewer that you could use to look at your slides when they came back from processing. Problem was, the thing jammed and the slides just tumbled into the output tray, creating a mess.

Then I had an ultrasonic cleaner that didn't really clean anything (I now have a GemOro ultrasonic that does amazing work on jewelry, small carburetors, and many other things).

Then there was the nose hair trimmer. Not only does that sound like a joke product, the thing was so underpowered that it couldn't cut through the eyelashes on a flea. Maybe I've got thick nose hair. You don't want to know, and I'm certainly not going to say.

The one great thing I got there (we have a store here in Carmel) was a mini-nerf disc launcher. I got two of these things for the kids about ten years ago, and the thing launches two-inch nerf discs at amazing velocity, at short intervals (about three a second if you hold the trigger) accompanied by a very satisfying Star Trek laser gun sound, while various lights blink. Really fine. Of course, it disappeared and I could never buy it for anyone else.

So one good buy out of a dozen.

Oh, and the ionic air cleaner someone mentioned is actually one of the the main reasons they are going bankrupt. They got sued (class action suit) because the products (allegedly) don't do anything useful and they, of course, emit ozone which is classified a pollutant (of course so is CO2, so I may get sued some day ...).

...emit ozone which is classified a pollutant (of course so is CO2, so I may get sued some day ...).

Time to cut back on the sodas... :O).

SI could have survived if they had had either more unique products, or better prices than their competitors who were selling the same products, or an air of exclusivity. They failed on all three counts.

> Jim H Said: Where's a guy with more money than brains supposed to shop??

> John_Cline Reply The Apple Store

ROTFLMAO!!! Truth is stranger than fiction. :-D

~jr

ROTFLMAO?????

Today I was gonna post about watching my new 007 Casino Royal Blu-Ray on my new PS3 on my new Sharp AQUOS 46" LCD TV. (OMG!!!) Then I realized the 21st century continues to slip away faster than I'm catching up. I don't have a clue - ROTFLMAO.

Age is a terrible thing to personally experience.

Darryl

Rolling
On
The
Floor
Laughing
My
A
Off

John Cline, your response totally cracked me up! Good one!

"John Cline, your response totally cracked me up! Good one!"

He had a good straight man... ;)

If I recall correctly, the guy that started SI (and was later ousted after they went public) is now working on a new product. It's a small hydrogen powered generator to use when you lose power to your home.


Next stop... Mr. Fusion!


:-)

John Cline, your response totally cracked me up! Good one!

IIB!

(Ignorance Is Bliss...)

LOL. I'm a sucker for gadgets and used to get sucked into that store, but you know I don't know that I've ever bought anything there. It's one of those stores that looks better on the outside. :-/

>>...the merchandise was over-hyped...

I think the king of over-hype was the DAK catalogs from the 80's. Sharper Image was possibly in the same league, but I don't think DAK could ever be out-hyped.

Anyone remember those DAK catalogs where they would write a 2 page dissertation on how great their pencil sharpener was?

The closest modern-day parallel I have seen to DAK is the explanation behind how SteadyHand works (http://www.goodervideo.com/index.html).

During the 70's/80's it seem every airline had DAK articles or catalogs in 1st class to the luggage storage in the airline belly! Sometimes I thought the airline stewards were paid a commission by DAK!

"> Jim H Said: Where's a guy with more money than brains supposed to shop??

> John_Cline Reply The Apple Store

ROTFLMAO!!! Truth is stranger than fiction. :-D

~jr"

ROTFLMAO-twice !! ;-)

During the 70's/80's it seem every airline had DAK articles or catalogs in 1st class to the luggage storage in the airline belly! Sometimes I thought the airline stewards were paid a commission by DAK!And don't forget the JS&A catalogs, also a staple in airline magazines.

I think your right about JS&A catalogs, more common that DAK during that period!