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Letter to the editor

Talk of the day

By Times Staff Writers
Published January 11, 2008

Steering wheel, tires, motor -that's about it

For millions in the developing world, Tata Motors' new $2,500 four-door subcompact - the world's cheapest car - may yield a transportation revolution as big as Henry Ford's Model T. The potential impact of Tata's Nano has given environmentalists nightmares. Industry analysts, however, say the car may soon deliver to India and the rest of the developing world unprecedented mobility. The basic model, expected to roll off assembly lines later this year, will sell for about $2,500, plus taxes and other charges, but you get no radio, passenger-side mirror, central locking or power steering, and only one windshield wiper. The Model T cost $850 when it debuted in 1908, which translates to about $19,000 now. In terms of performance, the Nano doesn't offer much more than the Model T. It has a two-cylinder, 0.6-liter gas engine with 33 horsepower, giving it a top speed of about 60 mph, according to Tata, and gets 50 miles per gallon.

IRS to returners: Ready, set, e-file

Taxpayers who file returns electronically may begin sending them today, the Internal Revenue Service said. The tax agency encouraged taxpayers to file electronically, either through tax preparers or through computers using tax-preparation software. It said those using e-file who choose direct deposit can receive refunds in as little as 10 days. Last year, nearly 80-million returns, almost 57 percent of the total, were filed electronically. For more information, see the IRS Web site, www.irs.gov.

Format battle not over, HD DVD says

Toshiba Corp., the main backer of the HD DVD standard for new video disc players, said customers aren't returning their purchases in favor of devices that use Sony Corp.'s competing Blu-ray format. While industry support for HD DVD has shrunk, sales of the players remain "robust," Jodi Sally of Toshiba said. Time Warner Inc., the largest publisher of DVD titles, said last week it will stop offering movies with Toshiba's high-definition technology. By the end of May, the studio will sell high-definition DVDs only in Sony's Blu-ray standard. The decision gives Sony a boost in the industry's biggest format war since VHS beat out Betamax in the 1980s.

National library spreads Web word

Microsoft Corp., the world's biggest softwaremaker, struck an agreement with the U.S. Library of Congress to make more collections and exhibits available through the Web. The company also will help create interactive kiosks at the library's Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington so visitors can have a closer look at items such as the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence and the Gutenberg Bible. Microsoft has formed partnerships with libraries at Yale and the Universities of California, digitizing their collections and putting them online. The Library of Congress, founded in 1800, is the world's largest, according to its Web site. British armed forces burned down the original library in 1814 during an invasion, and Jefferson later offered his own collection as a replacement.

[Last modified January 11, 2008, 01:29:05]