A Geek's Perspective

My selection for the winner is not based on hype or sheer “flash” as many of the magazines seem to focus on. I actually believe that any CES winner has be something that’s a cut above anything else in it’s field. In the pure electronics field, there wasn’t any TV, camera, computer or almost anything else that was a giant improvement or tech break though. Considering that this is where probably 98% of all new tech products are unveiled, that’s really odd. But despite the challenge, I did find a deserving winner.

Here’s how the winner was found … almost by accident.

I wandered into the “Totem” suite, and the gentleman doing the presentation of the new “Ember” from their “Element” line, reminded of a really tall “Doc Brown” from “Back to the Future”, with a huge grey afro and more than a bit of a “New Yorker attitude”. The rather pedestrian looking speakers on display didn’t look any different than any other $100 book shelf speakers at Best Buy. I started to head for the door as it looked like hundreds (if not thousands) of small speakers I’ve seen in the last 40 years. Then the music started … It literally stopped me in my tracks. No exaggeration, this eighteen inch tall loudspeaker sounded bigger and better than almost every seven foot+ speaker I’ve ever heard. I found myself looking for the cheat to make it sound like this (a hidden subwoofer or stupidly powerful amps over-driving the elements via a signal processor to the point where their lives are measured only in minutes, a’ la the old Bose stuff). Yes, they were using somewhat expensive electronics, but certainly not even remotely close in cubic dollars to what other companies were using. I don’t believe he was even using a SACD disc as a music source. Just a normal CD. Trying to describe a sound with words can be a futile attempt, so I’ll just say … it’s jaw-dropping. I can only compare it to you turning on your clock radio, and the next thing you hear is a sound like sitting front row in a night club, complete with all the power. It’s very disorienting. It’s also not cheap. Around $4200 a pair. And bizarrely, it doesn’t come with grills (extra cost).  But considering I heard it absolutely trounce a pair of $263,000 speakers (using several hundred thousands of dollars of electronics to boot … the speaker cables alone cost more than the entire Totem system), it seems like the bargain of the century for an audiophile with limited room.

At this show there were over 20,000 new products revealed. And as in every year, it’s declared the “Year of 3D, tablets, flat screens, smart phones, etc.” And just as always, the electo-pundits were wrong. It was very obviously the “Year of iPhone/iPad”. Entire sections of the show had accessories and apps for just these two devices. It was stunning how many products biggest selling feature was its compatibility with the Apple duo. No major manufacturer (even their biggest competitors) did not have at least a handful of products specifically designed for them. According to the sales charts, Android phones out sell the iPhone. But you could have put all the accessories/apps for that format in a small home … maybe a large den. It was more obvious than any other point that I can remember that there is one phone to rule them all. If there was money in Android add-ons, everyone would make them. The majority of users of Android products plainly aren’t as tech literate or as fanatical as Apple users. The professional and technical apps for the iPhone are mind boggling. I saw an iPad taking the place of an entire stages worth of guitar effect pedals, These would easily cost thousands of dollars (not including the cables, batteries, etc.) … the inexpensive app has effect galore for only two bucks a piece! There was a complete multi-channel recording studio that ran on the iPhone. In fact, a major band just recorded it’s entire album on just an iPad! Heart monitoring, remote aircraft control, comprehensive security control, blood analyzing … the list just goes on and on. In the “high end” area, Apple’s iTunes is de rigueur for demonstrating the deep six figure audio systems there. and yes, they all talk about how great the iPhone/iPad/iTouch sounds on their gear.

Of course, Apple was not actually at the show … they didn’t have to be. Everyone else touts their products for them. Here’s an interesting question: For next year Microsoft has said it will not attend … will anyone notice?

UPDATE – 01/18/12 – When the space for the 2013 CES became available, As predicted, the space that had been Microsoft for years, was taken in 45 minutes by the Dish Network. And yes, nobody will notice Microsoft is gone.

Just an interesting picture of the maps of the show …. according to the CEA, this is the largest ever. Buuut, I don’t think any of the shows I’ve ever been to would be called small. Bear in mind that the each map in the pictures is about five feet across.

Here’s a small gallery of some of the biggest “booths” … the sheer size can’t be shown justice on a small web page. If we’re talking distances, I’d have to imagine, on a few of them of the length of a football field. As you look at them, please bear in mind that each of the photos, are actually four to six photos stitched together.

This video I shot is one of the latest “No Glasses” 3D sets … watch as I slowly move across the front of the set, simulating walking by or turning your head. Those lines you see are not added … it is the #1 issue with these types of sets (other than lousy resolution).  Bear in mind, this is one of the best ones I saw. I got so dizzy just trying to watch it, I had to put out my hand, reaching for a counter to stabilize me.

FYI – for those who may be a little tech literate, I found a very  well written article about the 3D sets at the 2012 CES: Extreme Tech

At the show an energy company displays the world’s first completely “green” energy source approved by the Obama administration!!! A treadmill electricity generator. And yes!  It comes in his and hers versions (pink for the ladies). That way you can power a microwave after only four hours of running!!

Ok … maybe not. But he really looked like a rat on a treadmill. In reality, each minute in the NRG torture device generated bucks for charity … I just couldn’t help myself.

Admittedly Nevada has no shoreline for surfing. But what Vegas has in spades is limos and due to CES, laptops. Combine the two and you have limo web surfing … Vegas style.

For all of those who wonder “does a $2000+ guitar sound better than a $34.95 practice guitar?”, I can faithfully report that the answer is … yes. And it makes you a better player. But it still doesn’t make you sound like David Gilmour.

If ever the movie “Blade Runner” and Rube Goldberg had a tech love child, it would be the Sony HD 3D camera binocular. I found the thing as bizarrely fascinating as watching a train wreck … a $2000 train wreck to be exact. I predict here and now, Sony will sell a minimum of six … all to peeping toms.

Using them, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be a captain of a steampunk destroyer on the look out for U-boats or Luke Skywalker.

Obama’s miracle electric car, the Telsa, made an appearance at the show. Huge crowd, surly Tesla folks … You’d think they’d be pleased with taxpayers who paid for it (around a half a billion bucks, just to start), wanting to see it.  I can see why they want to keep everyone at bay. The entire car … and I mean the entire car is plastic. I can only assume the frame is metal. Very literally I couldn’t find a single piece of metal on the entire car, short of the wheels. I’m not even certain the body panels, with the horribly swirl-scratched paint job, were metal. The dash is basically a vinyl wood-toned adhesive applique over yet more plastic … Excess glue is everywhere and the “carpet” looks more like high grade astroturf.  Reminded me  of an electric “BIC” lighter on four wheels … disposable. All yours for less than $100,000.00. Going green never looked more black. When the sheer amount of plastic and the byproducts of manufacturing the batteries are taken into account, this may well be the worst possible car on the planet, in every respect, that man can devise. Could you imagine the chemicals you’re breathing when you get into it during the summer heat?

You may have heard about the attempt to contact extraterrestrials though various methods … due to the extreme “petrochemically plasticky” nature of this “eco-friendly” car, one can only assume that when this things’ batteries catches fire after an accident, that it’ll be visible at least as far as Mars.

This is assuming of course, that it doesn’t melt into a giant Tesla plastic puddle when summer comes a callin’.

They also claim the car seats seven. You could squeeze in the driver and four adults you like and two children you don’t. If the kids aren’t fried alive under the huge glass rear hatch, then much worse things will happen if even hit lightly in the rear.

As if riding as unicycle wasn’t difficult enough, let’s add a motor. And take away the seat.

If there’s an old name that you may have thought had disappeared like Philco and Packard Bell in the tech field, it’s got to be Polaroid. Remember the heady smell of the pink chemical stabilizer stick of the early models? Even better than a piece of freshly mimeographed paper! Ahhhh, brings back childhood memories.  Well despite the best efforts of the digital revolution to kill off Edwin Land’s instant picture camera, it still exists, albeit in a rather odd form. It combines a 14mp camera and a printer, all in the same device. Yes, it’s a little heavy. And I was scared to ask how much the special paper cost.  (Polaroid pictures were never cheap, you paid the big bucks for instant gratification)

I can already hear squeals of delight from the tech illiterate insurance claims adjusters.

Here in Vegas a “whose is bigger” contest has evolved throughout the years between Sony and the new king of tech, Samsung. From what I hear, when the booths are being booked for the next year and the rep from the CEA calls Samsung for how many sq. ft. they need, the response is always the same. “How many does Sony have?  We’ll take more”. This year appears to be no different.

Bear in mind … this is only a small part of their official area. Perhaps around 40%, if I were to give an educated guess.

Their booth probably had more than two hundred TV’s. And I didn’t find even a single set set that wasn’t a 3D or smart set. This was supposed to be the year of the “3D smart TV” … And I haven’t seen a new set yet that isn’t connected to the internet. But it’s really more like the year of the “3D” sets, in the TV field, that is. While everyone is pushing apps for TV’s, it’s really not all that new. After all, Samsung and LG sells “connected” refrigerators. (But really, do you need Pandora playing when you go for a Coke?)  Gosh, that’s a scary thought. A frig that knows what’s inside and starts playing commercials every time the door is opened. How about a screaming “Elsie the Cow” every time the icebox realized that it was low on milk?

But I digress … the 3D sets are getting better, buuuut, as before, there is NO content. (Hello Hollywood!!!)  When the big news in 3D broadcasts is that ESPN will have a talking head sports show in 3D … that’s a pretty blatant clue.

The glasses-free versions, as predicted, to put it bluntly … are simply awful. I started to get a wee bit nauseated watching one. (I will try to do a post showing the problems) And yes, the cheap passive glasses (polarized lensed), are not as good as the active glasses. The polarizing glasses, invented by Edwin Land of Polaroid fame, have been around since 1936. Why would a manufacturer, selling a $2000+ set, think that a buyer would be willing to sacrifice picture quality to save fifty bucks for a pair of cheaper glasses?

In Vegas for the big show. For the first time we’re splurging for a truly nice place to stay. Usually it doesn’t matter, as I pretty much live at CES. But after a special industry rate, the Vdara is actually affordable. This is of course assuming we don’t eat, drink, use the minibar or the spa. Since a tiny bottle of wine in the minibar is $38, we decided to pass … after all, as a friend once told me, wine can’t be considered good, … without a duck on the label. But in all fairness, this hotel is the most like home of any place we’ve ever been. That means it could be a show case for tech. Even the drapes are computer controlled. And the door bell changes colors to tell the cleaning crew not to bother us or we need a rush job. But this is Vegas and a few things don’t change …. like they’ll put a 1/8 stereo mini jack cable in the room to interface my Apple toys with the extensive entertainment center, but not a coffee maker. We have a stainless steel microwave, granite counter tops, designer faucets and sinks, a Gaggenau stove, dual Bosch refrigerators, and what looks like All-Clad pots/pans … but not a ten dollar coffee maker.  A geek without caffeine …. gad, that’s terrible.