CRT Displays, Floppies Approach Dinosaur Status

Although the installed base of monitors is still dominated by CRT (cathode ray tube) displays, a turning point has been reached which foreshadows rapidly dwindling market share for the aging technology. When LCD monitors were first introduced, their advantage was apparent: small footprint for minimum use of desktop real estate, lower power consumption, and a crisp, easy-on-the-eyes image. Unfortunately, their cost was initially prohibitive. Since then, the cost of LCD monitors has declined to the point where they were affordable, although still premium-priced compared to their CRT competitors.

Now, LCDs are seeing another round of price declines. A 15" LCD monitor can now be had for $200 - $250, and some are forecasting a price level of $150 by Christmas. With a 15" LCD monitor being roughly comparable to a 17" CRT in terms of display size, the CRT market is likely to almost vanish except for specialty applications.

Even today, the 50 - 65% power savings of an LCD monitor are likely to justify avoiding purchasing any new CRT displays and perhaps replacing CRT displays in high use applications.

Another hardware item on its way to extinction is the once-essential floppy drive. Although it now adds less than $10 to the price of a new computer, the floppy still takes up valuable cabinet space. Furthermore, due to the popularity of CD-R and CD-RW drives, plus the ubiquitous nature of networking, the low-capacity floppy drive simply doesn't find much use in most offices. On the leading edge of the removable storage mass market is the recordable DVD-R - look for this to replace CD-writers as prices fall, since it can write to both CD-R and DVD-R discs.

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CompStar Technologies is a leading Indiana-based provider of networking, technology, and communications services. With offices in Mishawaka (serving South Bend, Elkhart, Warsaw, Michigan City, Fort Wayne, Niles, St. Joseph, and Benton Harbor, Michigan) and Indianapolis, CompStar provides network design / support, network security, wireless networking, business telephone systems, VoIP (voice over IP), and cctv / video surveillance systems. CompStar is the Technology Division of Direct Line Communications, headquartered in Mishawaka, Indiana.