A Geek's Perspective

January 17^th … this is actually one of the most important dates (at least in the USA, initially) in tech history. Ironically, it wasn’t a tech-breakthrough, but a legal one.

If you’re not aware, you’re to be forgiven as this was 40^th anniversary of the Supreme Court Betamax decision. But it had everlasting effect on the U.S. that very, very definitely affects all of us up to this day, in so many areas that I’ve lost count.

Up to this point and actually, in truth, TV production companies and Hollywood felt that recording a TV show for watching at a different time, was very literally, criminal … Not a joke.

Fortunately and more surprisingly, the Supreme Court had a different opinion, despite not actually realizing the consequences of their decision and de-criminalization of watching TV “time-shifted”.

In the battle between unlimited/unabashed corporate greed and common sense, this was one time where the good guys won … up to a point. This was undoubtedly something the tech-illiterate Supreme Court absolutely didn’t vaguely understand when pontificating the decision as to allowing restrictions or no restrictions on media … This had been expected by a few, but unanticipated by most, as to how this was to have such incredibly widespread impact since the very invention of the phonograph in 1877 across the entirety of technology to this every day.

Very simply … should you have the right to watch/listen to media you purchased at your home when it’s best for your needs? You paid for it … so WHY does the time/location you do this, somehow matter? Not so simply, this decision had implications far beyond just this issue, for setting implications for the future. We are discussing censorship, media manipulation and liberal corporate greed … this was the first significant time Hollywood values were challenged, and lost. I believe that this decision opened the door for others that saw a different future than the increasingly liberal Hollywood projected.

The major media suppliers, Sony, Warner, etc., wanted absolutely nothing available to listen/watch for the public, even after the public already had paid for said items, to be able to hear/watch these items outside of the specific points where they had already paid for them (in front of their home TV’s). Somehow, this was considered a crime in their eyes. Consequently, to quote the TV show the “Outer Limits”, “sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear” … The loss of controlling the time/date you absorb their “stuff”, was in fact the first crack in the “wall” of liberal control of all media. The liberal media and Hollywood had a better grasp of what it meant, even when the conservative parties didn’t. It wasn’t solely about the rights for a movie/TV show that was under some kind of threat, it ultimately only was about control of the viewer.

But as of 1984, common sense, which isn’t all that common … prevailed. You could now watch Dynasty or if you had better taste, “Dallas” at YOUR leisure. As a fervent fan of “JR”, I’m certain he’d have approved.

I actually listened  to “Dallas” driving from Houston to Dallas on Friday night on a Sony “Watchman”, to see what Sue Ellen was worried about, and if the family feud with the perpetual “a day late & a dollar short” Cliff Barnes, was starting up again. My wife was filling me in on what had happened, as I as I cruised I-45 northbound searching for an analog TV signal. This was all due to the absurdity and greed of Hollywood.

Having to carry a rare and expensive, micro battery-powered CRT TV to watch a show, is as ridiculous as it sounds today. So that seemingly innocuous event in 1984 had far, far reaching impact beyond what most could have predicted. Note: even Elon Musk couldn’t have guessed, he was only 13 years old at that that point. So, cut him some slack …

After just attending my 25^th CES show in Vegas, the media is every bit (if not more) as restrictive as ever before, trying to prevent anyone with that all-too-rare common sense from listening/viewing anything that they don’t want you to know … preventing you from watching at your convenience is just the precursor to censorship. If they can’t control when you watch their pre-designated diatribe, it can’t to disallow what you can watch. A liberal nightmare come alive … Hence, the rise of Fox and other more truthful outlets.

The time-shift litigated viewing, is and was, a red-herring for their true designs. Yes, it very definitely was about the money … but it was also about controlling when, where and what you viewed. As I stated before … the consequences of the Supreme Court had far more reaching effect than just time-shifted viewing. This was the proverbial “camel’s nose under the tent.”

No wonder these same national media & production companies, very literally hide and lock themselves inside their booths in CES … When they come outside, the real world invades their imaginary world with real-world consequences. The talking heads pushing their personal propaganda fervently avoid any contact with reality by avoiding people attending and twisting news from the show. I’ve had personal interactions with them several years ago and they couldn’t have been more shocked by people disagreeing with them … I actually asked them questions that weren’t pandering. The most common reaction was stuttering, gaping mouths and bulging eyes. Now these folks hide on the 2nd level of their buildings, far above the floor, over looking a remote area of CES, to avoid ANY contact with the public.

The old expression: “They can’t see the forest for the trees” couldn’t possibly be more true … Even after over 40 years, conglomerates like Disney, Sony and many, many others with their own versions of “Gordon Gekko” running Hollywood and liberal news still can’t understand … greed has limits … and consequences.

Despite the 2024 CES being a monumental disappointment, there was a notable winner inside the show and amazingly, a winner outside of the show that reinforced the Caffeinated Geek’s CES award for best-in-show. Amazingly, not a SINGLE YouTube star recognized it … it appears to me that a few things were “in-play” for their videos. I’m relatively certain that some were being paid for their “reviews” … looking at things they thought were just amazing, were the same items I didn’t waste a moment of my time looking at. It was pretty obvious to me what these items were in context to the world’s largest high-tech show. Those that weren’t being surreptitiously paid to promote boring/old/ridiculous/useless stuff, decided to showcase what I would consider (around 98% of the time) as junk. The videos I watched had me wanting to scream at the TV a single word … IDIOT! Another useless and not-so-cute robot bringing a cheeseburger to your table, isn’t earth-shaking tech. I wrote to several of these “experts” that the viewing public would better served if they didn’t attend CES, or hire someone who actually understands what is being shown and explain it to them. Bear in mind, I’m talking about some of the largest tech channels on YouTube. One of the YT stars has over 18,000,000 viewers and from watching his videos, he’s as clueless as even the smallest YT “tech” channels …

These YT posers aside, there was a obvious winner … and that was in the West Hall. Actually, it wasn’t a single company … the fact that so many of these particular companies DID understand what true high-tech advancement was at relatively the same time, from a profession not particularly predisposed to world-changing tech was pleasing to me. So, the winner is:  Electrification of essentially all machinery for heavy construction. To build a high-tech world you need factories, labs, warehouses, roads, drainage and much, much more. By converting to the construction of an all-electric fleet, everything mentioned earlier can be built faster with much lower cost, safer personnel and greater reliability. The truly vast amounts of multiple different liquids, chemicals, filters, fittings, difficult time-consuming manual labor and expensive parts does nothing but hurt productivity. Electrification fixes all of these problems in one fell swoop. The implications of this are nothing short of mind-boggling. Musk is known for his quick construction times … think about how much faster a factory could be completed if there were no constant petroleum-powered machinery breakdowns or time wasted just trying to keep the bulldozers and earthmovers maintained. The fact that some of these “heavys” can be remotely controlled means fewer accidents and less fatigued workers. The “Fatal Four” leading causes of construction deaths (falls, struck by equipment, caught between objects and electrocutions) account for over 60% of all construction-related deaths according to OSHA. The implications are obvious even to the most uninitiated. The highest death rate of any industry is construction … take away some of those causes and productivity goes up as well.

As I began putting in my 45+ miles of walking according to my pedometer, I immediately noticed that there were Tesla autos everywhere. Like EVERYWHERE. So many in fact, that I first thought that Musk was flooding the streets with his cars during this high tech show as a show of force of Tesla. Literally, you couldn’t look at Las Vegas Blvd. and not see multiple Tesla’s … 24hrs a day. And it was a pretty convincing demonstration of “tour de force” for Tesla.

Finally at one point my feet surrendered, and I called for an Uber. An extremely clean, new Tesla Model 3 showed up to my surprise. Talking to the driver, I found he was one of their top drivers and as such he had been given the right to lease a long-term Tesla from Hertz at an extremely favorable rate that even included insurance. As I took more Uber rides, 100% of the drivers said they would NEVER own another gas-powered car again. One driver told us he loved the car so much, that he returned the leased car to Hertz and bought one directly from Tesla. It was then that I realized from what I’ve seen at the CES West Hall with electrified heavy machinery and the professional Uber drivers professed love for Tesla cars that petroleum vehicles are little more than an anachronism now. Notably, not a single car manufacturer at CES displayed anything powered by gasoline.

With heavy industry adopting electrification, the circle is complete for ground travel. You can now use electricity to move groceries … or mountains …

While the 2024 CES show was an unmitigated disaster in countless areas, there were a few (very, very few) things worthy of note.

In the new West Hall, the focus of everything large and electrically powered, demonstrated in no uncertain terms that anything petrol-powered is on its way out.

You saw heavy-duty everyday items, used at home and business, going electric.

There were bulldozers, earthmovers, heavy trucks, combines, etc. from most of the world’s heavy-duty makers showing that there’s a better way to build the future. The amount of maintenance for industrial vehicles is far beyond anything the average car/boat/gardener would ever be required to perform. That intense maintenance is expensive in ways other than just filters and lubrication. You have to shut down construction while work is being performed on it, and you’re hoping you have the right parts/chemicals to keep it running. Industrial vehicles require vast amounts of diesel/oil/coolant/hydraulic fluids/filters/hydraulic fluid fittings/grease and much more … pure electric alternatives require virtually none. The sheer amount of maintenance time required for petroleum-based machinery to continue to operate is substantial. With electric … again, virtually none. A large-scale builder saves money in lack of maintenance, breakdowns, parts and just as crucially … time. They may be able to do more jobs annually simply by going electric.

Even now, you’re seeing this industrial tech filter down to the homeowner through mowers, blowers, trimmers, chainsaws, tillers and more. No more storing flammable gasoline inside your garage or having to stop mid-job to go buy more fuel. Just slap in a new, charged battery and keep working. Another plus, is no real need for hearing protection. The exhaust scream of a heavily-taxed engine isn’t missed.

Your neighbors won’t miss the sound of your yardman’s loud whining tools …

I entered the 2024 CES show through my usual “secret” way that avoids the crowds. And as I walked to the North Hall through the Westgate hotel, I was excited to see that the empty “for two years” Asian electronic component manufacturers hotel convention halls were full. So, fingers were crossed that the show was going to be memorable. And it was … but not in a good way.

Without any exaggeration, the entirety of the show was utterly dominated by China … probably around 90 percent. Even last year’s show seemed more normal with many major companies attending than the 2024 CES with larger attendance. The lack of major players in so many different categories was startling. The lack of almost ALL major players, combined with the show being flooded with Chinese companies that no one in the western world has probably heard of, was shocking. The China virus, even after three years, still continues to hurt the show in countless ways. Regardless of whether the virus release was intentional or not, very obviously someone in China made the decision to flood CES with Chinese companies as a show of power.

The few major companies that did display had unimpressive, sparsely stocked products to show and virtually no one actually there from the company. Some displays were so bad that I wondered who within those companies “green lit” the booths. Both Sony and Samsung, two of the three largest displays, literally had nothing that wasn’t shown in previous shows. Perhaps that’s why no one of any stature that actually worked for those companies attended and manned their booths. The only other major display, LG, had a lackluster booth as well, but seemed they at least tried a bit more to be interesting. Bear in mind, this was amazingly obvious after only 15 minutes in the largest building – the Central Hall.

Traditionally, the junk of the show (toys, bottle openers, cheap Bluetooth speakers, children’s record players, etc.) were kept in the extreme back of the hall away from the real show. However, this year it was front and center, and it screamed that the 2024 CES show was in serious trouble. The only companies of serious note to attend were: Canon, Nikon, LG, Sony, Samsung, Ring, Google, Amazon and BMW … while there were a few more large companies to attend, their displays were so incredibly lackluster/ridiculously small, that it simply doesn’t merit mention as an attendee.

Some displays were so sparsely filled, like the Sony area (about the size of a small grocery store), that I’m guessing there were about a dozen or so items to see. ALL of them were completely boring/old and the vaporware BEV car appeared to be the same one they’ve been showing for the last few years. Even if it was brand new … from my perspective, it was impossible to tell as it looked so uninspired/tired. From what I could tell, they didn’t actually show anything new … essentially only rehashed stuff they’ve been making for years and years.

I don’t know what this bodes for future CES shows, but with certainty, there undoubtedly were discussions among the major players who did and didn’t attend, about this fiasco. What I can say with unwavering accuracy, is that if China is allowed to be the overwhelmingly dominant force in the show, CES is doomed. Without the largest tech companies showing their innovation and demonstrating their prowess in full, it’s only a short matter of time before CES ceases to exist. As CES sits now, it’s acting as nothing more than a mouthpiece for Communist China …

I did find a single silver-lining in the dark cloud that was the 2024 CES … there were several times more displays serving gourmet coffees than ever before … If only there had been a good use for that caffeine.