Kickstart: The vinyl revolution, now available in hotels

Back in 2007, I interviewed a record store owner about the unexpected resurgence of vinyl records.

Steve Bergman, who owned Schoolkids Records in Ann Arbor, Mich., for 31 years, said: "Vinyl is still the most romantic manifestation of music that you've got out there."

Sales have only climbed since then — growing 131.8 percent 2011-12 even prompting machinery makers to begin producing equipment specifically to make vinyl albums. Here in Detroit, Jack White's Third Man Record began producing vinyl albums on new Newbilt Machinery presses in 2017.

So would vinyl tempt you to pick one hotel over another?

Clarion Highlander Hotel in Iowa City, Iowa, is including a record player in every room as part of a renovation. When you check in, you can also check out vinyl albums from the hotel's front desk, according to a new story from The Gazette.
Vinyl not your thing? That's OK. The record player also has bluetooth so you could stream your music instead.

Speaking of bluetooth, would being connected make you better at brushing your teeth?

At CES in Las Vegas, Colgate introduced the Plaqless Pro, an electric toothbrush with "new optic sensor technology" that can keep track of any buildup in your teeth that could lead to future problems.

The sensors in the toothbrush can give real-time tracking about whether you've brushed properly, and the bluetooth can send a "comprehensive map" of the user's mouth via an app so they can see exactly what spots they missed while brushing.

I'm not technophobic, but I don't want big mouthwash sending me personalized ads based on how I brushed. (At least it's not as bad as another item that debuted at CES: A showerhead with an Alexa virtual assistant built in. I really, really, really don't want anyone able to eavesdrop on me in the shower, thank you very much.)

General Motors Co.'s Corvette has always been a pretty attractive vehicle for car enthusiasts (and for the plastics industry, featuring breakthroughs since its first models.)

The 2020 version has now claimed another prize, winning the North American Car of the Year award.

Plastics News been on top of all the news on the 2020 Stingray, and what it's meant for composites, its pultruded bumper and the clear engine cover which the judges loved so much.