Are you ready to buy a new television and a new DVD player? What?

You say you just bought a high-definition television set and a Blu-ray DVD player. Well, too bad. The next greatest thing in television is already here, and the entertainment and television industries will be pushing hard to tell you why you need it.

Last year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, all of the major television manufacturers announced that they would be developing 3-D televisions. This year, at the recently concluded CES, the manufacturers announced that the 3-D televisions are already in production. They will be on sale in the next few months.

Now, you must realize that some things that are announced at CES never actually get produced. Some things take years in development. But 3-D television has come to market like a rocket.

Not only will Samsung, Panasonic, LG and Sony have 3-D televisions, but also the content and delivery systems are already in place as well. Direct TV announced that it will have three high-definition 3-D channels in full production by June. DreamWorks will have a Blu-ray DVD of "Monsters vs. Aliens" in the next few months. It will follow up with many other 3-D movies on DVD.

Technicolor, another movie company, has also announced production of 3-D Blu-ray DVDs. Discovery Communications and ESPN have both announced plans for 3-D television programming. The World Cup soccer match and the Major League Baseball All Star game will both be broadcast in 3-D this summer.

No one will argue that 3-D will be a more immersive and more engaging television experience. But in order to watch 3-D programming on television, you will need to purchase a new 3-D television. To watch 3-D movies on DVDs, you will have to buy a new Blu-ray player. In fact, you will even need to buy a new HDMI cable, as this new equipment will require an upgrade to HDMI 1.4.

How many people will be willing to spend a few thousand dollars to replace their televisions, DVD players and cables? And don't forget - you will also have to purchase enough 3-D glasses for all your family members and guests.

How many people will feel comfortable wearing 3-D glasses around the house? For me, the need to wear the glasses is the killer here. It's alright to wear them in a movie theatre where all you are doing is watching the movie. But I don't want to have to wear them to see the television at home.

What if I wanted to dust or read while my husband is watching a 3D sporting event? I guess I would either have to wear the 3D glasses or see the double image that you see when you watch a 3D movie without the glasses.

Certainly 3-D will be a great technology for anyone who has a dedicated home theatre system in a special room that can mimic a movie theatre. If you have one of these, please remember to invite me over to see your new 3-D television set. If you don't have a dedicated home theatre system, you may not even be interested in 3-D television.

Yet, the movie mongrels and the television manufacturers are convinced that because 3-D movies like "Avatar" have done well in the theaters, we are all craving for 3-D in our homes. They have invested millions in developing the 3-D technology, and we can expect that they will spend millions more convincing us that we need 3-D televisions.

We are just getting used to high-definition television, and now we will be told that we need another new television technology. I can't help but wonder why they moved to this with such speed. I also can't help wonder whether the public will embrace this new technology.

The entertainment industry is betting on it, so brace yourself for the big push.

Sandy Berger welcomes all of your questions and comments on today's column. Please post them on the Compu-Kiss Message Board at www.compukiss.com/happycomputing.