WE'LL SOON BE FACING THE MUSIC AGAIN.

Byline: MICKEY GUISEWITE

And so it turns out, in a world where so much divides us, there is a common bond that unites us all: getting dumped on by the consumer electronics industry.

Who out there can't watch a fellow hapless soul repurchasing the same Barbra Streisand album first on record, then on eight-track, then cassette and finally CD, and quietly commiserate, "I'm going broke just trying to keep my Frank Sinatra collection on current technology."

Who can't observe his neighbor attempting to jam 75 CDs into a cupboard already overloaded with records and tapes, and shake his head, "Yup. I can relate."

Who can't look at his brother who owns a spectacular cassette collection and a car outfitted with a CD player and sigh, "Ah, yes, I know how it feels."

And now, just as 20 million of us are almost finished rebuilding our record and cassette collections on a whole new format, just as we've made the last Visa payment on our new entertainment center specially built to accommodate our CD players - they're about to do it to us again.

"What?" you ask. "I can't hear you. I'm trying to adjust the volume on my new $400 CD player."

There's a new format called DVD that's about to make your $400 CD player about as relevant as Milli Vanilli.

"Huh? Can't hear," you say. "I've got my brand-new 'Beatles Anthology' CD cranked to 10."

Get ready to shove your CD player and all your CDs out on the garage-sale table next to your eight-track player and 45s.

"Just listen to the sound! ... 'FR-EEE AS A BIIIRD ...' "

No kidding. That's about what you'll be giving it away for two years from now.

Indeed, the new DVD is a marvel of modern technology. A disc that looks just like a CD will hold movies, music and computer data. In fact, it will do everything except work on any piece of equipment you already own.

Don't believe you'll ever buy one? Just wait until the marketers start working on us. Slowly, through ads, articles and PR, we'll be reprogrammed and reformatted to feel like we're Stone Age relics unless we own the DVD.

Then, once again, we'll unite as a nation in line at the electronics store, each of us with our own tale of woe.

You'll feel a sense of oneness with the weeping opera buff who just paid retail for the collected works of Puccini on CD.

You'll empathize with the die-hard record-player owner who broke down last year and bought a CD player because he had finally been convinced the technology was here to stay.

We'll all be there - all ages, all races, all professions, all walks of life - standing in an incredulous, whimpering mass with our credit cards.

At least when we face the music, we know we'll never be alone.