Seeing the Future at CES 2007
(Page 1 of 4 )
Gadget hounds and technology mavens in general flocked in the tens of thousands to Las Vegas for the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show. It took place from January 8th through the 11th at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. A show this big can’t be covered in just one article, so in this first of two parts I’ll discuss some of the themes (and a few of the great toys) that were apparent at the show.
I have to give a full disclosure here: I wasn't one of the more than 140,000 lucky people who crowded in to see the 2,700 exhibitors show off their wares. To all accounts it was an amazing show. It almost had to be; after all, when you're trying to raise interest in your products and services in a city that turns a body of water into a video screen, how do you compete?
Well, some vendors did it with Elvis impersonators and Cirque du Soleil dancers. Some played to the crowd with robots, like the ASIMO from Honda. Some combined approaches; Wowee had an Elvis robot toy on display that could have come straight out of the Jetsons. Creative Technology found other ways to appeal to the crowd; it had Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel on hand to play Quake with attendees. Then of course there are the appeals that would work with almost any predominantly male crowd, such as the Porsche one vendor gave away, or the ubiquitous "booth babes." I used to go to Internet-related conferences before the first dot-com bubble burst, and hearing about this one made me feel oddly nostalgic.
One of the major themes that ran through many of the products and presentations at CES this year sounded very familiar as well: convergence. It's something that manufacturers have been working on for about a decade, but there's something pushing it now that wasn't before. Consumers take at least one level of convergence for granted; they expect their devices to perform multiple tasks. Just look at any self-respecting cell phone. But that's not the only factor at work.
Next: Portability and TV Major Themes >>
More Opinions Articles
More By Terri Wells
| Recommended by Dev Hardware |
|---|
|
