Being in the appliance trade can be very interesting. Every day there is something new.

What will manufacturer A offer to the public this year to increase their market share? Will manufacturer B counter with something similar, or a product that is bigger or fancier? Will the industry follow its own marketing strategies or branch off into the realm of the unusual? Will consumers turn their back on the contemporary this year in favour of the overly stylized? Is the public going to buy white, bisque, stainless steel, or pebble finished appliances next year?

All these are questions that give marketing executives gray hair.

Something unusual -------------------

Generally the products offered by appliance producers are fairly conservative in design. But every now and then something unusual appears on the market. Right now it is the internet refrigerator. A refrigerator that you hook up to your telephone line so it can do its magic.

One of the first to introduce this concept to the public was LG Electronics. A Korean based company now distributing appliances all over the world. They have been the innovators of many changes to the appliance industry.

They have recently introduced a refrigerator with a television in the door. It allows you to watch your favourite programs while getting supper ready. Also, messages can be left on the screen for family members to see later.

The Future --------------------------

Manufacturers have been contemplating an internet refrigerator that has a bar code scanner built into the door. So every time a package is added to, or removed from the refrigerator it keeps track of it. That means that you would know what is inside the refrigerator with the simple touch of a button. The refrigerator would never lie.

I can see the scenario now: