Fundamental Electronics Show

The International Consumer Electronics Show has come and gone for another year.  The annual celebration of technology as a consumer aspiration did its thing, attracting over 180,000 exhibitors, marketers, reporters, retailers and general enthusiasts (but only if they could borrow a badge from one of the first four groups).

On display were the biggest, smallest, fastest, farthest and most complex examples of electronic wizardry this side of DARPA.  TVs were bigger and brighter and more shapely.  Phones got thinner, faster and more... extendable(?).  There were robots that folded laundry and answered questions and guided people around.  There were new wireless technologies displayed that don't really exist yet.

On top of that the booths were more bombastic, curating brand and drawing attention and creating high concept experiences.  Experiences that were lost on the attendees as they threw elbows just to move and yelled at each other like couples at a rave club.

But none of those were the most interesting things at this year's CES.  At least, not to me.  No, the most interesting thing that happened at 11:30am PST on Wednesday, 1/10/2018.

That is when the power went out.

Stay Away

It's that time of year again, when the Tech Giants of the world descend on Las Vegas, NV and show case the things that they will make us buy in the coming year.

The big topics this year are going to be 5G and the general autonomy of Things.  That second is a sub-set of the Internet of Things that takes devices from remote controlled via the internet to making their own decisions as variables in their environment change.

Of course, there will still be the mega-booths devoted to TVs and audio equipment and all of the cars in the North Hall of the LVCC (and outside driving themselves around parking lots).  And there will be a excessive amount of people, an estimated 185,000 according the CES website.

Which brings me to my plea: Stay Away.

CES 2017 - The Shape of Things To Come

The ol' Schmoidster managed to finagle himself a trip to the big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year.  It's not really that hard if you don't mind working a booth and spending time in Sin City without actually sinning too much.  With that in mind, I want to thank ZTE USA for having me out there to help and talk about their Axon 7 unlocked phone (a steal at $399).

Because I was working a booth though, it did mean that I was not able to get out and see all of the IoT offerings until the afternoon of the last day of the show.  A time when many of the booths are beginning to shut down, the employees that are left are burnt out and are tired of discussing their stuff.  Many of the presentations that were not at the Las Vegas Convention Center were either already shut down or in process.

The Intel 'Tiny Smart Home' getting packed up

Still, I was able to hit a few booths and come up with a two spins that I doubt that the mainstream media are spending much time on: Market Crowding and Design.