Description: This is
a VOA Special English Technology Report.
See text below
Text:
A report by the Consumer Electronics Association
says electronics were among the most popular gifts
bought this holiday season. It also predicted that
spending on these devices would set new records. The
CEA said consumers were expected to spend an average
of about two hundred thirty dollars on electronics.
This is five percent more than in two thousand nine
and the highest level since the organization began
keeping records of holiday spending. Jim Barry is a
spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Association.
He said the CEA study found that electronics
represented three of the top five things on its
Holiday Gift Wish List in two thousand ten. He said:
"Notebook computers are at the top, followed by
iPads and then e-readers. IPad is a touch-screen
tablet computer and that's really the big player in
that category." The computer company Apple began
selling its small, touch-screen computers in April.
People use the touch-screen computers to surf the
Web, write e-mails, watch movies and read books.
Since the iPad's release, several other companies
came out with their own tablet computers just in
time for Christmas. A report from the e-Marketer
research group predicts that worldwide tablet sales
will reach more than eighty-one million in two
thousand twelve. Still, Jim Barry says these devices
faced tough competition from another Christmas
favorite.He said: "Another hot category right behind
that are the e-readers. So you can read on an iPad
or a touch-screen tablet, but the e-book readers are
less expensive. The Kindle is the market leader
there from Amazon. But you also have the Nook from
Barnes and Noble and the e-reader from Sony."Jim
Barry says modern technology is changing the way
people relate and increasing their expectations for
their electronic devices.He said: "It's really the
ability to take your information and entertainment
with you just about anywhere to stay connected to
your work and your family." The Consumer Electronics
Association report found that iPod music players
were also in high demand this holiday season. So
were video game systems and digital cameras. But not
all of the things on the holiday gift wish list
involved electronics. The one thing that people
wanted most? Jim Barry said: "At the top of the list
was peace and happiness." For VOA Special English,
I'm Alex Villarreal.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
