WEBVTT - TechStuff Classic: The CES Story 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:15.000 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:18.200 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:21.040 and I love all things tech and it's time for 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:24.759 a classic episode. This episode published on Christmas Eve of 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:29.320 two thousand fourteen and is titled The ce S Story, 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:32.879 so ce S being the Consumer Electronics Show, it's a 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.280 It's a show I haven't attended for a couple of years, 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:38.040 and I mean to be fair, like they didn't have 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:42.199 one in because of the pandemic UM. I'm not certain 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:45.680 what the plan is for one. I think the idea 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:47.440 was that they were going to have it in person again, 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:49.199 but it's been a while since I've looked into it. 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:53.519 I have not made any plans to attend UM, but 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:57.960 we'll see if I ever go back. It's an interesting experience, 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:02.400 not necessarily one of my favorite things to do, except 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:05.160 for the fact that whenever I do go I tend 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:08.559 to see some of my peers in the tech podcasting space, 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:11.320 and it's always nice to see them in person. I 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:17.760 am a great admirer of many of the technology podcasting field, 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.240 and it's just nice to be able to rub elbows 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:22.440 with them, chat with them, just see how they're doing. 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:27.280 Always appreciate that seeing the technology in person also pretty cool. 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:31.160 But there's a lot that goes on at c E 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:35.560 S that I just find physically and mentally exhausting. Anyway, 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:40.200 let's listen to this classic episode. The organization behind c 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:44.160 E s UM basically is right in thinking that a 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:46.640 lot more people know about this show than than they 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:50.360 used to. Yeah, it's the Consumer Electronics Association that puts 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:52.760 on the show, and that that's an organization of around 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:56.360 two thousand companies that are in the consumer electronics industry. 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.320 And these companies have formed this organization for many since. 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:03.400 Part of it is the organization conducts a lot of 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:05.840 market research to kind of find out what consumers are 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.000 interested in, what the trends are going to be, so 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:10.200 that companies can kind of get a jump on things 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.760 and start developing products that are going to really appeal 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:16.440 to people. You know that there's always a challenge figuring 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:18.840 out what people are going to be interested in and 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.520 and developing that because you know, most of these products 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:26.120 have development cycles that last a couple of years. So yeah, 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:28.400 so to be able to identify what a trend is 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.600 going to be not tomorrow but two years from tomorrow 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:34.320 is a huge challenge. So that's part of what the 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:38.120 c e A does. They also have networking opportunities. UM. 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:39.960 I mean, obviously you've got a lot of these really 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:44.399 important folks in various major companies and they all tend 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:46.600 to know each other through organizations like the c e 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:51.080 A and UH. It's also about education around things like 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:54.120 legislation and regulation. There's a lot of these industries do 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:57.639 have legislation and regulations surrounding them, so it's important for 0:02:57.840 --> 0:02:59.800 companies to be aware of that and to know what 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:04.800 is and isn't cricket before they go into developing a product. 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:08.799 Well but if but CS is, they're big, like that's 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:11.200 the thing everyone knows them for. The c e S 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:14.120 is just it's it's the public face of the organization 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.600 and it's and it's become such a huge event, especially 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:23.000 from its humble beginnings. Yes, yes, but in in essence, um, 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:26.680 it's a trade show. UM. Basically a big open floor 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:30.560 with booths where companies are showing off their products and 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:34.639 there are people representatives from the company, not necessarily company employees. 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:38.480 Sometimes they're they're pr people that they've hired to hired 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.320 guns who come in and they've got fact sheets about 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.400 all the different products that they have all memorized, and 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:46.640 they're happy to spout off. But if you ask them 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:48.480 anything that's not on the fact sheet, then they give 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:52.000 you an email. Here take my card. Yeah. Um, we'll 0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:55.040 get into into what it's like. It's it's interesting to note, 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:59.320 um that this, you know, we were in a gadget 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:01.560 hungry world now in the in the two thousands, when 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:04.880 the twenty fe century uh before that, you know, it's 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.520 like the nineties were kind of like that to the eighties. 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.840 We had the Walkman, we had the debut of the 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:15.119 compact disc player, um, which we'll get into in a minute. Um. 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:18.680 You know, we we we live in an electronics crazy world. 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:22.200 But the show goes back a little before that, to 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:26.719 a time when there weren't um, you know, fifty different 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.040 things plugged into our walls in our living room, uh 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:34.120 sucking down juice. There were there were this organization, and 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:38.040 this event dates back into the nineteen sixties. Nineteen sixty 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:40.359 seven in New York City, that was the first CES, 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.599 and back then electronics consisted of one radio and a 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:47.960 television that didn't work yet not true. No, that's that's 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:51.039 t That was a complete and well the seven part 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.520 was true, but the rest was a lie. I did 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:58.520 find a flicker set of photos from uh from early 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.080 c e s s back in but there was around 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:08.679 in nineteen sixty seven. That's amazing the photos. However, Um, 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:12.000 it's it's interesting, um to see people lined up at 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:15.320 the registration booth um where you can count them wearing 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.440 wearing suits and ties. Yes, you know, because hey, you 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:20.359 know they were members of the press and it was 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:22.320 a trade show, you know, and it was a trade 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:26.160 show you dressed up, Yeah, it was. And none of 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:30.800 them were were platify right right there you are, Perry. Uh. 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:34.599 The so that that first show, there were two hundred 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:38.039 exhibitors at that first show, and there were seventeen dollars 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:41.640 five hundred people attending this show. And we should also 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:46.279 point out that when we say people, yeah, if only 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:49.279 I could go for half a day and I'd be done, Um, 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:55.560 seventeen attendees and and uh, the attendees were all industry related. 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:58.120 You know, it's not open to the public. Why why 0:05:58.160 --> 0:05:59.880 why would you want to go? Yes? Because I mean 0:05:59.880 --> 0:06:04.880 the idea. I mean, I often ask myself that question, 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:08.479 but now the uh, the yeah, but I mean it's 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:12.560 their variations on different TV sets and different kind of 0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:15.320 radio stuff that's interesting. But for the most part, what 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.520 this is for, it's it's for the vendors, that the 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:22.640 manufacturers to show off new products to retailers so that 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:26.520 retailers will go and order the devices from the manufacturer 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:29.560 and start selling them through their retail stores. That's typical 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:31.640 of a trade show. That's what they're for. That's that's 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:34.920 the main that's the big business that's going on at 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.440 C E S. And then you have the press as 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:41.240 well that covers CS. And I think back in nineteen 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:44.760 sixty seven, there probably weren't any bloggers, but it was 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:48.160 all journalists, um so, and I'm assuming that a lot 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:50.559 of them probably wouldn't have been interested in this because 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:55.280 this isn't as interesting to the reader in nineteen sixties seven, uh, 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:58.200 the general reader as it would be today. Yeah. The 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:02.080 you know, the there did become kind of an interesting 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:06.320 uh history at CES for new technologies to debut there, 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:08.479 and we'll talk about those in a little bit. But 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:10.680 when it first started, it was pretty it was it 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.640 was fairly modest, and it was not the only big 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:15.560 trade show out there either. I mean, you know, it's 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:17.880 one of the ones that we hear about consistently today, 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:19.720 but it's not the only one. It was actually a 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:24.720 spinoff of another trade show, the Chicago Music Show back 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:28.840 in the day. Interesting but uh, and then you know, 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:31.080 you skip ahead by about a decade unless you had 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:32.640 do you had specific things you wanted to talk about 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:34.280 in the early history of c e s um No, 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:37.160 not necessarily, so I was thinking, like back in around 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.280 the c e A decided to try something new and 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:45.120 hold actually two trade shows per year. It was the 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:47.320 winter in the summer, right, and the winter one was 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:50.080 always in Vegas, and the summer one for the first 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:54.680 first couple of decades was in Chicago. But then in 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:59.000 c e A decided to try and experiment and move 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:03.160 the summer city two different destinations and to kind of 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:05.240 play that, play with that and see how that went. 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:09.000 Originally they were going to go to Philadelphia in I think, 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:13.360 and then the problem was it was scheduled directly against uh, 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:16.960 the E three UM event and E three the Electronic 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:21.200 Entertainment Expo is another big trade show. UH, And that's 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.080 so a lot of exhibitors were kind of expressing concerned 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.040 about that because they really wanted to be and and 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:28.320 retailers too, they wanted to be at the other trade 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:30.480 show as well. They'd have to pick between the two. 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:32.480 And if if you've got one show that has two 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:34.600 shows a year and one that only has one show 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:37.040 a year, well then that's easy. You you skip the 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:39.040 one that has two, you can go to the other show, 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:42.520 and then you've got you you still have another chance 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:45.600 to make it to the first one. So they tried 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:50.080 that a couple of times. Uh in they decided, you know, 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:51.880 this doesn't make any sense. We're just gonna do one 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:53.800 show a year. It'll be that Winter show and it's 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:59.360 gonna be in Vegas. And that's how it's been since. So, Um, 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:01.880 you wanted to talk about some of the products, some 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.439 of the technologies that have debuted at c E S. Yeah, 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:08.839 we actually we actually have several um tech stuff episodes 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:13.280 about some of the technologies that have that we're first 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:18.840 shown off to people beyond the manufacturers at c E S. Yeah. Yeah, 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:21.840 and um, this is this is one of those those 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:25.000 things about the show. Um, well, we were going to 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:26.600 talk about what it's like to go to the show. 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:28.520 But if you go to to any of the booths, 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:33.480 I mean, you're likely to see incremental changes in a product, 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:36.920 the next version of a technology. Yeah, we've got the 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:41.400 new camera which has a slightly faster, um, you know, 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:44.400 ability to do burst photography. Well a few years ago 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:48.079 burst photography was new. Yeah, yeah, so yeast an improvement. 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:51.240 I'd say the stuff you encounter at C E S 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:55.560 is just a slight evolution on technology we've already seen. 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.760 But that one percent and and you know they're they're 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.920 um variations on stuff. It'll be uh, you know, things 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:07.560 that are slightly smaller, you know than last year, or 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:10.440 they come in different colors, or like the a camera 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:13.760 that incorporates a button so that you can share photos 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:17.160 on social networking sites more more readily. Yeah, that kind 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:20.360 of stuff, well, the new feature that's in a pre 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:23.600 existing technology. Yeah. Or you'll go to a or will 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:27.199 go to a press event and they'll we'll find out that, um, 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:31.400 the TVs are not any particularly larger or or thinner 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:33.120 than they were last year, but this time they're in 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:35.920 blue because blue is the trendy color this year. But 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.400 you will find this stuff that is brand new and 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.640 stuff that is that was previously unavailable to the public 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:49.640 that will be including um. And my first device was groundbreaking. 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:52.400 And when I mean groundbreaking, it's because it was large 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:57.079 and heavy. Video cassette recorder yep, YEP. Video cassette recorders 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.720 or VCRs debuted at ce S some as the first 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:04.760 time anyone outside of the the industry got a chance 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:06.959 to get a look at one of these, and um, 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:09.000 for those of you who don't remember, VCRs were a 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:12.360 big thing. Yeah, yeah, and one of your your hits 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:14.560 now this I have a list that came from c 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:17.800 e S itself, the next of which was the laser 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.680 disc player in nineteen seventy four, and that was that 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:23.400 was pretty huge. Yeah, that was LaserDisc players ended up 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:26.520 being more of a niche market. There was a like 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:31.199 an enthusiast market that it was extremely popular, and um, 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:34.679 I mean there's still devotees of the the LaserDisc player 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:38.640 out there today, but it never reached a kind of 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:42.640 widespread adoption. And I'm going to do that thing that 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:44.640 Jonathan hates it when I do, I want to actually 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:48.880 hold something up, especially do you recognize this device that 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:53.080 would be the first cheap digital watch from Texas Instruments. Yes, 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:56.280 it made its its debut in the in the mid seventies. 0:11:56.360 --> 0:12:00.320 I did recognize it. Yeah, that was if you listen 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:03.800 to our Texas Instruments episodes, then you know we actually 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:07.640 talked about that about how t I helped bring in 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:12.800 this era of of less expensive digital watches. Before that, 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:15.960 they were all these luxury items that cost hundreds of 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:20.520 dollars transistors. It's transistors speaking of something that has transistors 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:22.880 in it. UM a device that I owned in the 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:25.480 nineteen seventies and this, uh, it's it's interesting that you 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:27.520 brought up E three in the mid nineties because E 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:30.839 three is much younger trade show. Um, if you wanted 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:34.720 to show off the next device, you would have to 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:36.400 take it to c e S because there wasn't an 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:39.360 E three UM when it showed up in nineteen seventy seven, 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:42.880 and now would be Attri's VCS video computer system. Other 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:46.560 consoles also first debuted at c S, including some that 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.520 debuted after E three started. That includes Pong. That's that 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:53.760 was that was before E three, But any s that 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:56.679 also debuted CS in in America, granted, had had already 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:00.320 been out in Japan, but made its American debut in 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:04.800 UH on a Winter CES show and then UM also 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:10.440 the Xbox UM. Traditionally, there are several keynote speeches that 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:13.959 take place at CES. It's not all just out there 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:16.439 on the trade show floor where you're looking at booths. 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:19.120 They also have sessions that they hold where they talk 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:23.040 about trends and technology and and companies will have a 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:25.960 press of event where they will unveil the stuff that 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:27.400 you would be able to see on the floor, but 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:29.560 you'll get an early look at what it can do 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:33.680 before you get to the floor. Well, Microsoft has had 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:38.199 a keynote slot at CS for years, and at one 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:42.680 of these they unveiled the Xbox So that was It 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:46.240 wasn't any three thing that was before Microsoft was big 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:50.920 in games. Yeah, that was. It was a huge splash 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.960 for Microsoft because you know, Microsoft had been involved in 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:56.520 games on the computer side, but not so much on 0:13:56.559 --> 0:14:00.920 the console side. So this was definitely any big move 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:03.720 and turned out to be a really successful one, which, 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:05.800 you know, it's nice to be able to say that 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:09.360 about Microsoft. Yeah, you're right. I didn't mean to say 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:12.440 that they weren't because they had done uh, they had 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:16.280 been releasing games for years, not on the scale that 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.960 the Xbox, right, it was all it was all computer based, 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:22.480 like Microsoft Light Simulator type stuff. We'll be back with 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:25.320 more about the ce S story in just a moment, 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:35.880 but first let's take a quick break the other technologies 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:38.520 that debuted at CES. UM. Well will you're talking about 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:40.960 laser discs and VCRs. Let's stay on that topic. There 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:44.160 was a big year because that was when the cam 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:47.240 quarter and Compact disc player was shown off. C d 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:52.000 S and then DVDs also debuted at c e S, 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:55.920 and as did um Blu Ray. Yes, it also debuted 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.840 at CES. Yeah. Oh, and don't forget that earth shattering 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:07.360 announcement from Sony the mini disc. Yeah. Very popular in 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.720 other parts of the world, not so much in the 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:12.720 United States. Um. You know, hi, hi d f TV 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:18.240 here in the United States. Um you know, plasma TVs, um, 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:20.880 you know, all kinds of stuff, and of course three 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:25.040 d HDTV in the in the two thousand nine. Yeah, 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:29.080 so let's talk a little bit about um. Well, first 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:32.440 of all, let's talk about two thousand. Uh, I've got 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:34.720 one event in two thousand five. This was before we 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:36.520 went but in two thousand five we have to talk 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:41.000 about the the embarrassing moment for Bill Gates, Yeah, that 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:42.960 that you know what, in doing the research for this, 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.400 I wanted to look for products and things that made 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:48.440 their debut, and that one was mentioned in several and 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:51.200 it kind of kind of feel terrible about it. You 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:54.520 know that so many people remember it. Sometimes stuff doesn't beat, 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:57.720 that's the problem. So yeah, for that to happen to 0:15:57.800 --> 0:16:02.160 the company's founder and on a keynote speech, here's here's 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:04.120 what happened, because you know, we're dancing around it. So 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:06.720 Bill Gates is up on stage and he is, uh, 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:13.400 he's demonstrating a Windows Media Center to a crowd at 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:17.160 c e S and as he's demonstrating it, the system 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:21.080 crashes and he gets the blue screen of death. So 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:23.760 imagine being the CEO of a company. You're showing off 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:28.080 your latest product on on a device that has had 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:31.920 its share of jokes directed at it for its the 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:33.760 you know, the fact that it does tend to crash, 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:35.600 and that the when it does crash, you get this 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:39.880 blue screen. For that to happen in public on the stage, 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:42.760 that had to have been a little, uh, you know, 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:45.840 a little bit embarrassing, and the press had a pretty 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:47.880 good time with it, and it still does. So. Anytime 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:50.560 you see like a wrap up of big moments and ces, 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:54.520 like Chris was saying, it tends to be included. Um. 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:57.520 Um and I have one more big moment in a 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:01.200 similar vein that I think can and easily launched us 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:03.480 into the second half of our podcast, where we talk 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:06.320 about what it's like to be at the show. Um, 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:08.840 Jonathan and I. The only time that Jonathan and I 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.920 attended c E S together was in two thousand eight. Yes, 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:16.760 and there was another UM. I hate to use the 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:20.760 term epic fail, but this is this was painful and 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:23.800 in its obviousness, UM, I know what you're going for, 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:25.800 but I want to hear it. We had an opportunity 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:28.520 to be on the show floor early because we were 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.679 members of the media, so we got a chance to 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:34.000 kind of seat. Now, most of the booths were kind 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:37.000 of wrapped off so that you couldn't see it. But um, 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:39.000 if you look at some of those old photo sets 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.320 of old c E s is, the boosts were very bland. 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:43.159 It would be a white booth with the name of 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:45.560 the company written on it. Well, okay, it was black 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:47.560 and white, so it looks like a white booth with 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:50.679 a name, and the company very very sober in comparison 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:55.080 with today's where they have elaborate displays with speakers and 0:17:56.119 --> 0:18:00.400 all kinds of brilliant marketing materials and might even bring 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:04.000 overlays of stuff so that the cubicle doesn't look like 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:06.119 so that the cube doesn't look like a cube, it 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:09.920 looks like something else. Sure, sure, yeah, And in some cases, um, 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:12.000 you know, you can't really see in it before they've 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:15.840 started the show, and in some cases they can't hide 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:18.080 what's going on. So we're walking around the show floor 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:20.280 and getting an idea of what what we're going to 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:24.160 get an opportunity to see the next day. And on 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:28.919 on one side we see Sony's enormous pirate ship of 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:31.840 the Blu Ray display. Yeah. So yeah, they actually had 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:36.760 a this this uh set essentially and it was because 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:39.159 of Pirates of the Caribbean, uh, And they had this 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.239 big pirate ship type set in the middle of their booths. Now, now, 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:44.720 some of these booths are small, like some of them, 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:46.960 some of them are only as slightly larger than what 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:49.880 you would find an office cubicle. Yeah, I mean their 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:53.720 marketing marketing dollars don't grow on trees for some companies 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:56.600 because they are paying for square footage. At this event 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.360 and other other ones, especially you know, of course from 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:05.040 the big company are enormous, enormous booths Panasonic Sony. This 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:07.480 is taking place. Most of these booths are at the 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:09.680 Las Vegas Convention Center, which has I think three and 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:15.440 a half million square feet of space. Yes, and and 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:19.600 and c e s these days. It's not just one building. No, 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:24.919 it's also in many other floors. Um. But anyway, you 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:27.440 were saying, so the Blue Ray, the Blue Ray presence 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:31.000 is there, and it was obvious, and then a couple 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:32.960 rows over. It wasn't even that far. It was on 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:36.040 the same show floor. It was was the and this 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:39.120 is again one of our very first podcasts that we 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.720 did back when we were five minutes long. HD DVD 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:46.119 Versus Blu Ray. Right, h D DVD was supposed to 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:49.480 be at CS and the week before ce S there 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:51.919 was a big stink because Warner Brothers announced that it 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:55.360 was going to be exclusively Blue Ray from that moment on. 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:59.480 And that was one of the few big movie studios 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:03.160 that had still been backing h D DVD at that point. 0:20:03.280 --> 0:20:07.400 H D DVD they which was from Toshiba, right had 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:11.320 the Toshiba had decided to pull the h D DVD 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:14.760 presence from c e S rather than have to endure 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:19.760 a week long uh onslought of questions about what are 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:22.320 you going to do now? Yeah? Yeah, and that was 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:25.520 that was the thing. And there were, um, there were 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:29.200 rumors that there was something going to happen with h 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:33.560 D DVD UH I guess in the weeks prior. And 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:36.919 then it happened right before they had the set in 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:42.840 place on the show floor and it essentially never opened, um, 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:45.639 and we didn't know. We got the announcement while we 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:48.560 were there, UM that they were they were going to 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:50.280 do it, and then as we were there they said, yeah, 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:52.680 we're done. Yeah yeah. So that was pretty much the 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:56.040 end of h D DVD. I had that room down too. Yeah. 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:59.160 That also was two thousand eight was a big year 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:03.399 full or for CS. There were a hundred and forty 0:21:03.440 --> 0:21:08.520 one thousand attendees, so up from that seventeen previously, just 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:14.520 a few more. Now. I actually wrote down the a 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:16.960 couple of just little facts about every year from two 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:21.000 thousand eight ton because we were you know, I attended 0:21:21.040 --> 0:21:24.120 all of those, So just a couple of little notes. 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:26.080 So you covered h D DVD, which was one of 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:27.560 the notes I had for two thousand and eight. The 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:30.639 number of attendees was another. And also I have what 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:32.920 c net picked out as the best of c E 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:38.440 S because c is the official streaming partner of c 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:41.639 E S, or was in for those years. And so 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:46.159 c net always holds an awards UM ceremony where what 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:48.280 they do is their editors go and hit the floor 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:50.720 and they all look at all the different tech out there, 0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:52.960 and then they get together and they decide what is 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:56.000 the what is the best thing on the floor. And 0:21:56.040 --> 0:21:59.120 I think it'll be interested to hear what one over 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:01.160 some of these years, because as they're not all good 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:05.320 stories go ahead. So two thousand and eight c NET Awards. 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:09.920 This one's not bad. Is the Phillips Eco TV show. Yeah, 0:22:10.000 --> 0:22:11.840 this is a forty two in ten a d p 0:22:12.160 --> 0:22:13.919 H D t V that had a lot of energy 0:22:13.960 --> 0:22:17.000 saving technology built into it. Because two thousand eight, I 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:18.919 think Chris can remember this to two thousand eight, I 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:22.720 think was the big trend was green technology in two 0:22:22.720 --> 0:22:26.800 thousand eight. UM. Now you can usually spot some pretty 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:29.560 pretty prevalent trends each year at c has to do 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:31.080