2006 Consumer Electronics Show Recap
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For four days in early January, the consumer electronics industry gathered in Las Vegas for their annual adrenaline-pumping, drool-inducing event. Once again I was there with the anticipation of a child sitting in front of a Christmas tree surrounded by unopened gifts.
So did I get everything I wanted, or did Santa fill my stocking with coal? Well, there was no coal, but the show was still a mixed bag. Read on for my full assessment.
CES and PORN
Okay, so I was looking for an excuse to talk about porn in my article. But you have to admit, it’s easy when you’re dealing with a show in Vegas. This year it was even easier. It’s no secret that the CES shares time with the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo (sorry, no link), but this year it also shared space. After putting emerging tech exhibits in tents outside the Las Vegas Convention Center last year, the powers-that-be decided to move those exhibits to the Sands Expo Convention Center. The Sands just happens to be the location of the Adult Entertainment Expo, and the two shows quite literally were sharing space and competing for, uh, eyeballs in the common areas.
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Figure 1 Decisions, decisions...
Needless to say, there was an interesting mix of people in the lobby, and I’m sure there were plenty of attendees who visited both shows. (Sorry, but I wasn’t one of them. No pictures for you.) It’s interesting to note that the adult film industry has been on the forefront of new technologies for years, so it is somewhat appropriate that these two shows are scheduled at the same time. Without porn, the adoption of the VCR, DVD player, and internet arguably would have been a lot slower than it was. One of the emerging technologies at this year’s CES, IPTV, is largely being driven by adult movies right now (more on that a bit later). I suppose that’s as good a segue as anything back into my review of the CES.