CES Thoughts

I spent the last few days at CES. The enormity of this show is truly impressive. While that may be one of its biggest strengths, it also is a weakness. It is nearly impossible to get around Las Vegas during the show. Restaurants are packed, hotels are jammed, it takes hours to get a cab, etc. Even with that pain, the show was still worth the trip.

I thought the show was more evolutionary than revolutionary. TV’s were bigger and flatter, cameras were smaller, but I don’t recall seeing any real break through devices.

Wireless devices, and specifically those containing Bluetooth wireless technology were everywhere. It was great to see stereo Bluetooth headsets from Motorola and Toshiba. The Ten Technology add-on for the iPod to enable it with Bluetooth is also very exciting. While this is a great product, it would be killer if Bluetooth were integrated into the iPod itself. Think of being able to carry all your music with you and stream it to a headset while walking or jogging, stream it to you car stereo while driving, and to your home stereo at night. That will be great and is well within reach!

The Motorola clothing line featuring Bluetooth wireless technology was also very exciting. The jackets and helmets are very practical applications for the technology but one that I didn’t envision when I first got involved back in 1999.

I also looked at the Wi-Fi camera from Kodak. It’s an interesting product, but seems to have many obstacles to overcome before such a solution can be widespread. The fact that it is based on Rendezvous means that it doesn’t work out-of-the-box with a Windows PC or most printers. It will be hard to compete with the likes of Nikon which was shown working in that configuration during the BillG keynote on Wednesday night.