The Age Of Disposables

THE AGE OF DISPOSABLES

There are disposable diapers and cigarette lighters, razors and pens. That today's middle-income consumer is a busy person - who is often willing to pay a few dollars more to replace an item rather than spend precious time getting it fixed - has not gone unnoticed by manufacturers. Some firms have even created disposable versions of durable products.

Here's a new idea : Mini-phone, Texas, is marketing a Touch-Tone telephone that is small and, most important, disposable. The phone comes with a plastic housing and only the most basic transmission and receiving components. "I don't want to use the word cheap, but the components are of a lesser quality," admits an official of Mini-Phone. For that reason, the phone has a predictably short life span : any-where from six to twelve months," says he, "if you use it once or twice a day."

The Journal of Consumer Research has denounced the phone as "very, very close to being useless." But sales results tell a different story. The company, which opened business last year, is already shipping about 7,500 units per month, at a price of $8.75 to $9.45 a phone. Mini-Phone estimates a potential market of $175 million in annual sales.

Most of the phones are sold to hospitals, which peddle them to patients. Some hospitals charge a flat price of $12 to $15 for the phone ; others charge by the day. For hospitals the chief benefits are financial : the disposable phone produces extra revenues and reduces phone-replacement and maintenance costs. Two Philadelphia hospitals that sell the product say they will save $22,000 this year on phone parts. For the public, the throwaway phone apparently allays the misplaced AIDS-related fear that one can catch a disease from contact with a phone used by a previous patient.

Newsweek, July 13, 1997

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Vocabulary

Activities

(Print the document before doing the activities)

True or False ?

Multiple Choice Questions

Fill in with the appropriate article (exercise 1)

Fill in with the appropriate article (exercise 2)

THE AGE OF DISPOSABLES

There are disposable diapers and cigarette lighters, razors and pens. That today's middle-income consumer is a busy person - who is often willing to pay a few dollars more to replace an item rather than spend precious time getting it fixed - has not gone unnoticed by manufacturers. Some firms have even created disposable versions of durable products. Here's a new idea : Mini-phone, Texas, is marketing a Touch-Tone telephone that is small and, most important, disposable. The phone comes with a plastic housing and only the most basic transmission and receiving components. "I don't want to use the word cheap, but the components are of a lesser quality," admits an official of Mini-Phone. For that reason, the phone has a predictably short life span : any-where from six to twelve months," says he, "if you use it once or twice a day." The Journal of Consumer Research has denounced the phone as "very, very close to being useless." But sales results tell a different story. The company, which opened business last year, is already shipping about 7,500 units per month, at a price of $8.75 to $9.45 a phone. Mini-Phone estimates a potential market of $175 million in annual sales. Most of the phones are sold to hospitals, which peddle them to patients. Some hospitals charge a flat price of $12 to $15 for the phone ; others charge by the day. For hospitals the chief benefits are financial : the disposable phone produces extra revenues and reduces phone-replacement and maintenance costs. Two Philadelphia hospitals that sell the product say they will save $22,000 this year on phone parts. For the public, the throwaway phone apparently allays the misplaced AIDS-related fear that one can catch a disease from contact with a phone used by a previous patient. Newsweek, July 13, 1997

Download document (Word format) Vocabulary Activities (Print the document before doing the activities) True or False ? Multiple Choice Questions Fill in with the appropriate article (exercise 1) Fill in with the appropriate article (exercise 2)