Consumers as programmers: TV networks are upstaged by VCRs and video games; turnkey personal computers plunge in price

Although the large-scale introduction of video cassettes made 1977 a special year for consumer electronics, other technical accomplishments almost as impressive include production of fully assembled personal computing systems; development of self-contained electronic games and more advanced video games; 40-channel citizens´ band radios that have started doing some thinking for themselves; programmable calculators outfitted with solid-state software; and TV tuners that beat stability and mistuned master antenna problems with frequency synthesis.