International CES -
The Last Word
Peter Pachal
January 2002
As the 2002 International CES drew to a close, manufacturers, investors, journalists,
and curious onlookers departed the Las Vegas Convention Center with a sense
of wonder and amazement after seeing all the incredible innovations in . . .
hehehehehehe BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA . . . aaaaaah. Sorry. I wanted to keep you going
there, but I just couldn't keep a straight face. If CES attendees were at all
impressed this year, it was probably with the outfits at the adult entertainment
video convention all the way over at the Sands. Truth be told, CES '02 looked
very much like CES '01, except with tastier cookies and a fashion show. Yep,
we tuned in and got a rerun.
Or maybe that's my personal bias. After all, this was only my second Consumer
Electronics Show ever. And there were certainly plenty of goings-on that appeared
noteworthy. Sure there were satellite radio promises, hard drives galore, a keynote
by Bill Gates, and titillating whispers of something called "DVD Blue,"
but didn't we hear all this last year? Where were the breakthroughs, the emerging
trends, the new stuff -- no, the really new stuff -- where was the pizzazz. With
a little less emphasis on MP3 and a lot more on in-car entertainment, CES 2002
set a pretty familiar table, one that had lots of portions but still left you
feeling hungry. But maybe that's just me. With that said, I now bring you . . .
