Ms. Sawyer has perfected a crafty mass-market version of that ancient court ideal, the voice that is "ever soft,/Gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman."

Several mass-market versions are also available, the most famous probably being Ouma Beskuit.

The difference in quality between good ones and the cheap mass-market versions can be immense.

And now, the mass-market version.

Mr. Martin has written a snowboarding manual explaining his shoulders-first method, which he intends to be sold with a plastic, mass-market version of his indoor-training snowboard.

But so far no company has successfully produced a mass-market version, although Philips Electronics tried unsuccessfully about three decades ago to introduce a Stirling car engine.

That preoccupation has diminished somewhat in recent years in the face of an all-purpose, mass-market version of the American dream.

Then the following year, 1990, Accolade published the first mass-market version.

For example, the perceived value of a "luxury" brand may be not as desirable if it is too similar to a mass-market version of the same platform.

That chair, with a leather cover, is in the Museum of Modern Art design collection, while mass-market versions, with canvas covers, have become staples of dorm rooms.