MILLIONNAIRES WE ARE NOT. Thus while a plasma is delectably desirable because of its wafer waistline
our local sellers act like a cabal, a cartel, a mafiosi "collective" in putting a leashed on making this
technology more of an attainable household appliance. Instead of pushing it as a utilitarian appliance that
holds the key of making stock-exchange-smashing bottomline profits, our cartel-like appliance stores confines the plasma as a boutique gadget - elitist, status quo, and artificially ultra-expensive. In our frustration with this pestering variety of mercantilist greed (much like competing Philippines who forget their diff'rences when it comes to imposing oppressive interest rates on loans but a beggar's pittance on dividends), I tend to imagine in time that only the folks with suspicious or scoundrel-ly source of income could plunk serious money on a plasma. You know, the drug kingpin, no-good children of jueteng operators, well-connected smugglers, or a lecherous dependee of balikbayan-OCW remittance. That we are no millionnaires might taint our spite also with a dose of sour-graping. In a way we truly do, but how come North American electronic vendors acts like Pinoy crabs (talangka) in a basket, pulling their prices to as low as possible to beat the closest competition? This might be cut-throat mercantilism at work, but it sure is democratic, generous and no buyer in his right mind would caused to disagree. But our local vendors maintains an unshaking monolithic hold on pricing. But if this cabal only clusters together because of profit, at the rate that plasma or DLP sets are going which is qualifiably and miserably low (and ultimately unprofitable) - someone from within is bound to jump away from the flock and will get on the clever idea of cornering the specialty TV market with friendlier, more realistic pricing. This is what happened with Infocus, a business projector maker who unleashed the X1 front projector for less than $1,000. - an unbelievably democratic breakthrough price. Promptly, Infocus became the dominant leader, and has remained so for five years and going, the other more predatory makers who were caught offhanded could not caught up as quickly because they've become numbed and obese with obscene profits made from corporations and institutions who're formerly the only clients they could convincingly duped to take their ultra-expensive multi-media projectors. Now, of course, lets not forget, in fairness too, though that these plasma and DLP sets are all imports and thus levied very oppressive tariffs. Unavoidably, that sure adds to the retail price. But folks, if you do have deeper pockets than most and hopelessly salivating for a plasma as much as you salivate for Caspian Sea caviar, French countryside truffles and Gallic chicken liver pate-foie gras - why not bypassed those applaince store predators and go to IMAGE, a small audio-video importer inside the Harrison Plaza. Image stated that they have a plasma, a TOSHIBA 42 incher and the above-board price is P125,000. Have we got one? No, because we cannot afford it and we are nervous about plasma's reliability. Plasma is an unproven technology, the technical press-meister might declare this or that model as "8th generation" but when a unit does indeed fails down, even the neighborhoods' premiere electronics repair shop would likely scratch its head wondering what a plasma TV is, much more that its "run by gas."
