Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Improved two-way radios aren't just toys anymore

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 22:03:15 -0500

Improved two-way radios aren't just toys anymore
Source: Record - Bergen County
Publication date: 2002-11-19

It was blue and it was cool, and Benjamin Pokorny had one.

He was carrying it as he carried on a quarter-mile conversation with his wife,
Doris, across the noisy, cavernous Woodfield mall in Schaumburg, Ill.,
without resorting to yelling or a cellphone.

What he had in his hand was a two-way radio, a gadget that's light-years
beyond the muffled static of the walkie-talkies you had as a kid. No
"Mmmphorph-nnn-frzzle-pop." As clear as day, Doris was saying, "Where
are you?"

Pokorny, 32, of Schaumburg was hustling his kids toward the
Cheesecake Factory, where Doris was waiting, but he had taken a wrong
turn. Buying the two-way radios, though, was a bull's-eye, he said.

"They're the handiest things around, as far as I'm concerned," Pokorny
declared.

In a society dominated by cellphones, two-way radios might seem like an
antiquated novelty, a fad like the CB radio boom and bust of the late
Seventies. But the popularity of the radios keeps building, with an estimated
15 million radios sold in the United States in 2001, an increase of 3 million
more than 2000 sales. And, although he wouldn't divulge sales figures,
Cobra Vice President of Marketing John Pohl said his own company (the
No. 2 radio-maker after Motorola) expects its 2002 sales to be up 10
percent.

Beyond shopping malls, two-way radios are increasingly popular on ski
slopes and at amusement parks and sporting events as families arrange
meeting places or keep tabs on growing children looking for a little
independence. And although the Pokorny children -- Brandon, 3, and Dylan,
7 months -- are years away from telling their parents that they need a little
personal space, Pokorny finds the radios infinitely more convenient than the
cellphone hooked onto his belt.

"Sure, we could be in touch with cellular phones; it's pretty cheap to call.
But let's face it - if you just want to say two words, it's kind of a hassle to
ring the phone, wait five seconds for them to pick up, hold the phone to your
ear, and struggle to hear them," he said.

Manufacturers have been giving the radios a sportier look and brighter colors
to fit the fashion needs of teens and young families.

And the radios have come a long way in the last few years - quality is going
up and prices are coming down ($29.95 for a basic set).

Better yet, there's no service fee or subscription package, and the only
roaming charge might be kids getting grounded if they wander out of the
signal's range.

And though some may wonder whether two-way radio features on
cellphones (like Nextel's popular Direct Connect) might be harbingers of
decline for lines like the Motorola Talkabout or the Cobra microTALK, Pohl
says it's a different market entirely - and he's glad that actor Dennis Franz is
doing those commercials for Nextel.

"If anything, it might help us. We see it as familiarizing a lot of people with
the benefits of two-way communication," he said.

But will it be enough to silence the two-way radios? Not unless the prices
come way down. Even then, the phones probably won't make you feel like
you're on a cool search-and-rescue mission.

http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=34497763&ID=cnniw&scategory=Business+and+Finance&

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