The Marketplace: No Hands

In the continuing effort of U.S. gadget makers to spare the citizen even the least physical exertion, such simple tasks as brushing one's teeth, hair and boots have been taken over by a whirring peddler's pack of electrical gimmicks that foreshadow the day when people will need nothing but an index finger (for button pushing) and a vestigial thumb, helpful in plugging things in. Among the don't-do-it-yourself items now available: > Electric toothbrushes have proved to be popular beyond manufacturers' dreams, and demand has outstripped production. General Electric's model delivers a brisk, sideways ''reciprocating action" stroke, operates...

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