JAN: So all this talk about big screen TV raises the obvious question: Why are men so much more enamored with a big television screen than women?

My husband, who installed a 5 by 9 foot projection HDTV in my family room (luckily it rolls up into the ceiling and disappears), gets just the slightest bit defensive if I comment too enthusiastically about the picture on someone else’s plasma TV. (the option not taken.)

He seems to think that this competitive element has to do with sports. And that man’s need to have a bigger, better and clearer television screen is about the contest to have the best personal arena in which to view sports.

Mike, a mild mannered superhero who lives outside a Detroit suburb, a self-described “technie” and a writer, and owner of an HDTV big-screen, sees the competition in broader terms. “Anything visual and bigger than yours appeals to all men,” he says.

I can't argue with that. But I’m wondering if, there’s any technological product that illicits the same kind of desire and/or competition among women: Best convection oven?? Doubtful. Best washing machine? Maybe in the 1950s. Best laptop?

Or do we wage our competitions in strictly non-technical ways?