A CES Newbie Shares 5 Takeaways From the 2018 Las Vegas Show

This year the Consumer Electronics Show took place in Las Vegas from January 9^th – 12^th. Our own Dave Pulvermacher had the opportunity to attend the show for the first time and so I suggested we interview him about his time there. Here we go, let’s bust the myth of ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’!

After having been to numerous types of shows at a variety of venues over the years, Dave thought he would know the routine. Yes, as expected, the “whirlwind of booths, advertisements, products, and flashing lights” were in abundance. He says he got that and much more. “Anyone who has been to Las Vegas knows that the hotel just “next door” is probably a 15-minute walk.” The CES show is spread out over the Las Vegas strip area. A little tip: Make sure you are wearing comfortable walking shoes. Thanks to Dave for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer these questions.

1. Where in Vegas did the show take place? It took place in 4 different locations – all over the strip. It was 2.3 miles end-to-end, as the crow flies. Part of the ‘fun’ was navigating taxi/Uber lines, which were huge!
2. What were your initial impressions of the show? Glitzy. Alexa. Hey, Google! Google had the visual ads out in force, but Alexa was in basically every product – they really didn’t need to advertise much. However, the initial Wow factor cooled off after a few hours. I found the tech to be underwhelming in all. Lots and lots of iterative improvements, but nothing AMAZING that knocked my socks off. The displays and booths were sometimes more impressive than the products themselves.
3. Were you there when the power outage occurred? If so, how was that incident handled? No, I was in a different part of the show at the time. Bummer, that it happened, but it certainly generated news!
4. What was the buzz? What appeared to be the most popular technology items? Alexa and Google were everywhere, as I mentioned. But biggest, newest ‘trends’ were AI/AR/VR. Everyone seems to be promising ultra-cool experiences, but the applications are lagging in my opinion. The car tech was cool, but again nothing jumped out as being over-the-top awesome.
5. Based on the show, what do you predict will be the hottest thing in the near future? In the near future it’ll be voice apps and products with more functionality. You might find yourself having an actual conversation with Alexa, rather than just asking for the weather. Longer term, the easiest tech to grasp is the driverless car. AI/AR/VR may be awesome, but you really have to ‘be there to believe it’. In other words, the technical aspects are more behind the scenes until you’re immersed in the virtual/artificial world.

Fantastic. Thank you again Dave for answering my questions and sharing your experience and insights. Now that you’ve attended the big show and much anticipated event of the year, tell us any closing thoughts or comments that you have. I wish I had another day. I walked 20,000 steps in one day (7hrs of show), and that included 1.5 hours getting from one end to the other. I do hope to go next year. I am still a tech nerd at heart and, while the tech revolutions weren’t jumping out at me, the show is still very impressive.

Well there you have it. Be sure to stay tuned-in for more exciting news here and through our social channels and thank you for stopping by today.

Yours Truly,

Elizabeth Sinclair