By Nigel Thorpe
Chief of the English Copy Desk.
“Now there’s a more comfortable way to surf the web, e-mail, and interact with your favorite television show,” WebTV.com’s website proudly announced on Monday. La-Z-Boy, the Michigan-based home furnishings industry has now joined forces with WebTV, a subsidiary of the software mega-giant Microsoft, to bring armchair comfort to Internet surfers. “This relationship allows WebTV and La-Z-Boy to claim new territory and reach new audiences,” claims Kevin R. Wixted, director of marketing for La-Z-Boy. “Together, we’ve developed the most technically advanced recliner to date and have created a way for every consumer to be comfortable with interactive television, e-mail and the Internet.”
WebTV Networks, Inc. was founded in 1995 with the mission of “bringing the Internet into people’s living rooms via television” and “adding a new dimension to how people can watch TV.”
With the appropriate name “EXPLORER” the first ever “e-cliner”, which allows you to recline while surfing the Internet, is now available on the American market at a cost of $1,049 for the fabric, and $1,299 for the leather/vinyl model.
The “e-cliner’s” many innovative features explain why it won La-Z-Boy the 2000 Pinnacle Award from the American Society of Furniture Designers.
The e-surfer’s body sinks comfortably into the subtle, stylish curves of the chair’s top and back while the computer-packed, wing-like armrests keep the surfer afloat on a swelling sea of software and websites. A tray table folds out of the left arm to reveal a Sony WebTV wireless keyboard. An infrared beam connects this high-tech keyboard to a WebTV Plus Internet Receiver avoiding the need for unsightly trailing wires. In a way that is reminiscent of in-flight meals, the keyboard tray swings up and unfolds across the surfer’s lap. Since the tray unit can swivel through 360 degrees, the surfer can stand up or sit down without stowing the keyboard and table away inside the chair arm where they are normally stored. In its “deployed state’ the keyboard tray also doubles as support for a laptop computer which can be run off the 120-volt fused electrical outlet with surge protection in the chair’s left arm which also features a high-speed DSL port and regular analog line.
After a strenuous surfing or word-processing session, the user can relax by sampling the drinks and playing with the remote control and TV guide in the storage unit of the right arm.
The chair’s plethora of electronic gadgets makes it an ideal workstation for word processing, sending and receiving e-mail, interacting with enhanced TV programs and, in webTV’s own words, “exploring the wonders of the World Wide Web. Our relationship with La-Z-Boy underscores our strategy to provide new ways to enrich the entertainment and information value of television by making it easy and comfortable for people,” said Eric Estroff, director of channel marketing for WebTV Networks. “What could be more comfortable than a La-Z-Boy recliner?” The user can automatically record educational and recreational TV programs on a VCR and, using the WebPIP™ picture-in-picture feature, consumers can watch television or interact with over 500 weekly hours of interactive TV programs and surf the Internet at the same time.
Using a video or digital camera, or VCR, the user can add video clips, pictures and audio clips to e-mails. The interactive TV listings also allow the consumer to browse and search on-screen interactive TV listings to find their favorite shows and request reminders before these programs air. These advanced technology features, in WebTV’s words “ lead the way to a convergence of entertainment and information.”
Once the “furniture-ware” and “hardware” provided by the “e-cliner” is purchased, the user needs only an existing phone and a television to begin surfing. The recliner also has a cargo of software on board thanks to a free, two-month introductory period of subscription to WebTV Plus. After this, there is a flat monthly fee for the WebTV Plus Interactive service which is available as local call rates in most areas of America.
La-Z-Boy and WebTV are both highly confident their joint venture will be both “a great
commercial and cultural success.” The one thing that is for certain is that the “e-cliner’s” unique synthesis of modern technology will transform many passive “couch potatoes” into active “human bio-chips.” – Albawba.com
