Jan 06
7
At the Consumer Electronics Show
Vegas at the CES. This is the most extraordinary place during the
Consumer Electronics Show. First to get out of your hotel you have to
walk past the gaming tables and slot machines – acres of them – in
order to get to the exit. Then to go somewhere you have to line up for
20 minutes to get a taxi – unless of course you are lucky enough to get
a stretch limo. The stretch limo services at this time of the year take
on as many passengers as possible and ferry them at seven bucks a shot
to the Convention Centre. Beats waiting in line for a cab. And the
traffic is dreadful anyway, so who knows how much a taxi ride can cost?
At the show it is even more bedlam than I can remember from the last
time I was here two years ago. I wandered around the central hall today
and checked out the new flat screens. This year it appears that bigger
is supposed to be better. One company has a 108 inch flat screen on
display. All of the screens are extremely good in terms of picture
quality….
I ran into Dan Tynan, contributing editor for PC World, in the Dolby
R&R room earlier today and asked him what he thought was the big
trend of the year in consumer. His take: Google. He said he thought
that everything was boring except for Google. Google are providing the
wild card, extraordinary, exciting stories of the times. And even if
they aren't announcing the rumours are exciting in and of themselves. I
think it is always interesting to get feedback from the guys who act as
the information gatekeepers between business and consumer. I responded
to him that Skype is still very hot news. Amazing, isn't it, that now
when we talk about consumer electronics, we don't talk about the
excitement coming from the manufacurers but about the excitement coming
from the companies and brands that create the applications that provide
real value for us as humans.
And those values are really about enabling community to thrive. There is the future.