WEBVTT - Gadgets, Trends and Vaporware 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:07.240 Brought to you by Toyota. Let's go places. Welcome to 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:14.160 Forward Thinking. Hey everyone, and welcome to Forward Thinking, the 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:15.920 podcast that looks at the future and says, wind the 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:18.160 nano bots up, wind them up, and wish them away. 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:22.080 I'm Jonathan Strickland, I'm Lauren, and I'm Joe McCormick. All right, 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.680 so we wanted today to talk about a crazy, wacky 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:29.880 thing that happens every year that I've had inflicted upon 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:32.800 me over the past several years, the Renaissance Festival. You know, 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:34.919 that's not gonna be inflicted upon me this year, So 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:40.520 that's I am free this year. I think that crazy 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:44.680 and wacky in this case might be a terrible understatement. Yeah, well, 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:47.320 it all depends upon I guess it depends upon how 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.200 jaded you are about the whole thing. Okay, first of all, 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:53.279 we're talking about c S, which formerly was known as 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.800 the Consumer Electronics Show, now known solely as c S. Yeah, 0:00:56.880 --> 0:01:00.760 so it's kind of like KFC yes or Prince Yes. 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:03.720 So Prince was they was a symbol for a while 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:08.640 and then came back to Prince again. He's just like 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:12.480 pr in No, I don't even know. I don't even 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:14.200 know I can't. I can't keep up with with the 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:18.759 great one. We're talking now about c e S, which 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:23.200 is a giant consumer uh conference. It's a show where 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:27.000 manufacturers come out and show off the stuff that they've 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:30.880 been building in order to attract vendors who want to 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:33.600 carry the sort of stuff in either their stores or 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:36.920 through online or whatever. So it's kind of like a 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:40.279 direct manufacturer's attempt to show off all the cool things 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:43.840 that they plan on releasing over the next twelve months 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:46.720 or so. Sometimes you also see prototypes or proof of 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:50.440 concept type things that are not meant for consumer use 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:53.200 in the near future, but maybe two or three years 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:55.600 down the line. Cool. So you're saying, once a year 0:01:55.600 --> 0:01:59.440 in Las Vegas installs the world's biggest nerd magnet. Kind 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:01.880 of I mean me, I would argue that Comic Con 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:04.600 is an even bigger nerd magnet in the sense that 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:07.080 it's more nerdy like because a lot of the consumer 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:10.960 electronic stuff is just pure business, right, So, so a 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:12.960 lot of people have this view that CS is a 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.440 place where you walk in and everything is like the Jetsons, 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:17.440 and it's all magical and you get to try everything 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:19.240 and you get to carry it all home. You walk 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:24.320 in and everything is TVs. Yeah. The the way I 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:27.560 describe it to people who have never been is, you 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:29.639 know people who think, oh, that sounds like it's really cool. 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:31.600 Like I understand what you're saying, and it's not that 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:33.840 I don't see really cool things. But think of it 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:36.680 this way. Imagine that you walk into the largest mall 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:39.480 you have, shopping mall that you have ever been in, ever, 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:42.400 and every single square foot of that mall is a 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:45.079 radio shack, and it's your job to look at all 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:48.040 the shelves at radio shack and check out the three 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:51.400 or four cool things per you know, square foot or 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:55.360 so and ignore everything else. And it's also Black Friday. 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.359 So that's that's what the experience is like, because it's 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:01.000 a it's a The most of of the booths are 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:03.520 in the Las Vegas Convention Center, which has three point 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:07.360 two million square feet of exhibition space, and most of 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:10.240 that is taken up by booths at this at this 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:14.960 convention and um so a lot of these vendors are 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:18.640 offering similar products to each other. They're big competitors. So 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:22.080 Sony and Panasonic and Sharp are all there, and so 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:24.120 you're gonna see a lot of the same types of 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:27.960 technology booth to booth, although the implementations will obviously be 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.959 different depending upon which one you're at. So you're you're 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.239 not just seeing like cool, crazy gadgets that you've never 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.240 seen before. A lot of what's at this big convention 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.800 is the sort of next iteration of a technology you're 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:44.560 already familiar, a lot of prototypes. Yeah. Yeah, you'll see dishwashers, 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:49.480 for example, or laundry machines. Laundry machines, yeah, or just 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:53.040 more efficient ones. Where you're there, you're using far less 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:55.880 energy than the previous generations did. So it's not that 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.840 it's unimpressive or unimportant. It's just not the sort of 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:02.360 thing you think of as like robot hands. Well, but 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:04.400 I was going to say, you're also going to see 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:06.720 some robot hands. Yeah, you do see some robot hands. 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:08.640 There's that mixed in two, and that I think is 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.560 the the allure that CS has for a lot of 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:13.720 people is that there are things at c e S 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:17.120 that are kind of outside the box, or they're they're 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:19.760 either a brand new technology or it's a technology that 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:22.839 combines other things that have never been combined before, and 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:26.600 it blows your mind Oculus is Rift, for example, basically 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:28.880 debuted at cs A couple of years ago. Yeah, I 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:30.560 was so upset that I missed out on that. I 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:33.080 got to see it at E three the following E three, 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:35.360 but I didn't. I didn't see it when it's sort 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:38.280 of debuted at c E S and after I left 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:40.720 the show, I heard nothing but great things about it. 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:42.360 But while I was at the show, no one told 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:44.039 me about it. Well, but there's a lot to see, 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:46.280 and you're also there with As of last year, there 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:53.359 were seven hundred and fifty nine attendees UM, which you 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.600 know there does security. They're top not okay, anytime you're 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.760 talking about security in Las Vegas, top notch okay, I 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:03.320 mean of that. But that's over attendees, over fifty exhibitors, 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:06.240 seven thousand media, eight hundred speakers, all from a hundred 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:09.440 and fifty different countries. And within those groups, by the way, 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.520 you also have cast systems. It's not it's not a 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.799 joke because in in media you've got the the media 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:18.880 and then you have the bloggers, and there's a little 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.800 bit of I won't say there's like true animosity, but 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:26.400 there's some snootiness going on. I can't imagine that nerds 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:29.080 get a little bit snooty sometimes. I mean, because there 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:31.240 there are the the established media who are like, well, 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.800 these aren't real journalists, and then there's the bloggers who 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:36.360 are like, well, these people are working for a dead medium. 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.000 So it's it's kind of interesting because I get I 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:41.320 get kind of stuck between. I've always been put with 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:45.080 the established media, which is kind of interesting because I've 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:49.320 only had that experience. Yeah, so apparently apparently, at least 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:52.560 in the past, our food has been better, the food 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:54.920 that they provide, which by the way, goes really fast. 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:58.600 Because if there's anything that will make a journalist run, 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:00.560 it's the promise of a free lunch. So you get 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:02.240 to hang out with the cool kids, but they put 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:04.919 kick me signs on your back. Yeah, kind of Yeah. 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.479 Over the last few years, that's been more integrated, so 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:11.160 it's been less of a like, there's not so much 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:13.679 of a stigma on the bloggers as blogging has become 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:15.920 more and more important. But it's certainly one of those 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:18.479 things where you it's kind of interesting. It's a microcosm 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.520 of this weird world where old media and new media 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:24.680 are trying to sort out what the future is going 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:27.160 to be. Yeah, So I would think one of the 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:30.640 coolest things about going to uh a conference like this 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:33.760 or convention show, whatever you call it um would be 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:36.800 to go through and obviously you can't see everything, but 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:38.839 to walk through and see as much as you can 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:43.760 and get these general impressions of Wow, I'm I'm witnessing trends, right, 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:47.560 you know, I'm seeing what's hitting what's hitting the ground 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:50.479 right now, and what's going to fall away really quick, 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:53.760 and what's going to succeed. And I wonder if that 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:57.080 helps train your intuitions for what kind of trends are 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:00.640 just hype and what's actually going to have staying power. 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.560 Like I bet you've seen lots of examples of things 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:06.360 that were like it seemed kind of cool at the demonstration, 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.920 but then disappears. Sure, yeah, I've seen both cases. Right, 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:12.560 I've seen stuff where while I'm at c E S, 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:15.040 I start seeing Usually it works in in a in 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:18.480 a cycle that lasts about two or three years. Right, 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:21.520 You'll go to a CS, there'll be a few implementations 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:23.720 of something that's kind of cool and you look at 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.040 and you're like, wow, that's so different from everything else, 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.600 And then you know, you either see that it's got 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:31.640 the potential to do great things, or maybe it's just 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:33.600 a flash in the pan, like, oh, that was interesting, 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:36.480 but nothing ever came of it. The next year, if 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:38.120 it's one of those things that seems to have a 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:40.720 little bit of traction at least in the minds of consumers, 0:07:40.960 --> 0:07:43.360 you'll suddenly see a lot more implementations of it, and 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:45.640 now you're like, Okay, now this is a thing. The 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:50.200 next year you'll see the refined implementations where you're thinking, now, 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.280 this is something that I want. So it usually takes 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:57.080 that three year cycle from first seeing it to really 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:00.520 wanting it, and it doesn't always end up the really 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:03.640 wanting it category. Sometimes sometimes companies will stick with a 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:07.200 technology and sometimes a way longer than they probably should. Yeah, 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:09.400 and there's one of those in particular I'll talk about. 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:11.360 But let's talk about some of the winners first before 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:13.880 we get into the ones that didn't didn't take off. 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:17.040 So you're talking about stuff that has launched at CES 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:20.160 previous years. Either it is launched at C E S 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:23.200 or it had its first big marketing push at CS. 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:27.200 In some cases, these products launched before the show itself started, 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.520 but they were ones that you sees as the platform 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:33.640 to get a lot of attention, so a lot like 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:36.920 For example, last year was a big year for fitness 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.959 trackers and activity trackers, which had started about a year 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.240 or two before that. We've done an episode on those 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:45.080 and I'm wearing one right now. Weirdly enough, got one 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:47.520 for Christmas. Thanks cousins. It looks like it's a flex 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:51.160 Is that a flex? Or Force? You got the nice one? 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:53.720 Those are cousins who really love you, Chris and Jesse. 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:55.680 You guys are the best. I mean, flex is nice too, 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.200 but the Force is more expensive. I know because I 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:01.880 wait to put him on a Terry amount on my Lovely. 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:03.480 It's a cot amount and it's come out. I know 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:05.760 because I priced them. I was looking at those as 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:09.880 a possibility for gifts anyway. So fitness trackers big thing, 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:12.559 big thing, and last year they were big the year before, 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:15.000 but we're really big last year and we expect that 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:19.280 that will continue inteen. Obviously, I'm not at c S yet, 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:21.920 so I haven't seen them, but I expect to see 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.560 lots of fitness devices like the Fitbit. That's that's one 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:27.160 that a lot of people have heard of because it 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:30.280 got a lot of buzz at CS and that's a 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:34.760 great example of the technology that before CS, it was 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.760 a very small market that was aware of activity trackers. 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.000 You're talking about, you know, the athletes who are also 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:44.120 early adopters, Right, it's a tiny niche because it's a 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:47.880 niche of a niche. But now everyone's heard of these things, 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:51.200 and people who may have never really been interested in 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:54.000 it before because they just weren't very active, but they 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:56.480 love things like all the data you can get back. 0:09:56.600 --> 0:10:01.160 Suddenly they're getting into more active lifestyles because of these technologies. 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:03.640 Oh they've they've also of course, um, you know, I 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:06.280 think what's really driving the fitness tracker trend right now 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:09.040 is the fact that these things are much more stylish 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:12.240 and wearable. And I mean most people don't even notice 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:14.760 that I've got anything other than a bracelet on, and 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:17.440 that's that's cool. Yeah, And and on top of that, 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:20.920 they're adding other types of functionality, right, you know, it's 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:24.040 it's not just a pedometer obviously, like a lot of 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:30.480 these have multiple exactly how poorly I'm sleeping, that's great. Yeah, yeah, 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:34.240 that's a big one. Sleep trackers. So but that's one example. 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:37.000 E readers is another example, although you could argue that 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.440 e readers is both a winner and a loser. UM. 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:41.319 E readers were one of those things that that we're 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.840 showing up at C E S before they really took off. 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.280 I mean, Amazon cracked the code on that one when 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:51.120 they introduced the Kindle, but not at c S. Not 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.600 c S, No, Amazon did their own events, and some 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.000 companies like to do that. You know, some companies decide 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:58.839 that they don't want to compete with all the other 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:01.720 announcements that come out at CES and so they just 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:03.800 do their own things. So Apple is one of those. 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:06.920 And now Microsoft is I mean until recently Microsoft was 0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:08.960 a big part of CS, but last year they pulled out. 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:12.560 Yeah they ran the keynote for a long time, didn't so, uh, 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:15.520 they are not part of it anymore. But the readers 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.559 in general were huge. They we've seen a lot come 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:20.240 and go, and then we've also seen a lot of 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:22.480 tablets that have tried to take over the e reader 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:26.520 space by incorporating that directly into the features that they 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:31.560 talk about. UM and tablets again another huge category I 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:34.679 think with the e reader and tablet thing, correct me 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:36.920 if you feel different, but it seems to be there's 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:40.319 a convergence going on where we might be trending away 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:45.000 from things that are exclusively E readers just towards yeah, 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:47.160 sort of the tablet that well, you can watch movie 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:50.160 on it, but it also, uh, you can read just 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:52.800 as well as any good E reader. We're certainly seeing 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:55.640 that as the prices for tablets fall as well, right, 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:58.600 because one of the differentiators, they're two big differentiators I 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:02.480 think between e readers and tablets. One is, generally speaking, 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:05.959 the price. Generally speaking, e readers are a couple hundred 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:10.400 dollars cheaper than the comparable tablets. The second thing, and 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:13.280 second thing is the battery life because a lot of 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:16.319 the readers you use ink, which is much less power 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:19.240 intensive then using a backlit screen. That's the way most 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.040 tablets us. Right. It's just a magnetic switch, um every 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:23.920 time you turn a page, and so you're only using 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.760 electricity when you actually turn that page. Right, So, anytime 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.720 you're displaying something on a e reader, it's not actually 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:32.800 consuming energy unless there's also a light or something incorporated 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:36.120 into the e reader. So, uh, for people who wanted 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:38.559 to have a device where they could read for days 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.040 on end, without having to recharge it. E readers also 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:44.400 made sense. UH. As battery life gets better and tablets 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.480 get more efficient at using the energy that is available 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:49.440 to them, so that you know, the apps are not 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:52.520 draining the battery within four hours of turning on the device, 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.079 then we start to see the end the prices go down, 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:57.720 We start to see those those differences disappear, and the 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:01.040 functionality of the tablet becomes a much more attractive thing 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:03.560 than you know, again the unitask or nature of the 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:06.400 e reader. So I think we will continue to see 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:10.440 e readers start start to fade as tablets continue to 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.440 take over that space. UM. I don't know that they're 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:15.640 ever going to completely go away, because for some people 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:18.360 that's exactly the advice they want, But I don't think 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:22.200 it will be as as a big and a market 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:27.160 as it has been. UH. Also, processors, obviously, they tend 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:29.560 to debut at c s or at least they tend 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.760 to have the first public demonstrations like Intel. UH the 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:36.120 Nehalem processor from a few years ago was a big one. 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:39.280 That was all this multi threading UH technology that they 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:41.840 had built into their processor, and since then they have 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:45.680 built on that with the subsequent generations of processors. So 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:48.880 if you go to Intel's booth, they'll have giant displays 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:54.000 showing really complicated programs running at full speed, and they're like, 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:55.920 this is all running off of one of our processors. 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.520 This this shows that it's capable of doing this heavy 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:02.320 graphics lifting without a second, very graphic chuck card. So 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:05.640 you know that kind of stuff that that's big. Also, 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:10.520 streaming media devices very big at c e S. That's 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:13.240 where I first saw the Roku. Uh, and there are 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:14.840 a lot of other ones that are similar to the 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:17.800 Roku where they take content that's on the Internet and 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:20.840 stream it to your television. We're starting to see TVs 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:22.760 kind of take over that role themselves, a lot of 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:26.200 smart TVs out there, but for a long time, smart 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:29.360 TVs just weren't going anywhere at CES because they were 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:32.160 so limited. It was like a couple of um widgets 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.320 that would be on your screen that might show you 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.240 what the weather is or something along those lines, and 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:40.000 everyone was like, this is so limited, it doesn't make 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:43.000 sense for me to pay an extra five dollars for 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:46.160 those TV set when there's not really it's not doing 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.760 much for me. Yeah, it seemed like that's something that 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:52.440 probably had to wait on infrastructure to support it. Like now, 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:55.520 you know, once you're smart TV can access Netflix or 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.000 something like that, or Amazon or Hulu Plus or any 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.560 of those type of services, and then till those apps 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:03.360 got built out, right, Yeah, that seems like one of 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:07.520 those interesting ways where PCs and computers actually played a 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:11.240 good bridging role because people started watching streaming media on 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.880 their computers and then through that they give you know, 0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:17.200 these companies could actually pay to build out what they 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:20.080 were providing. I really credit Netflix for building that out 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:24.040 because Netflix was incredibly proactive on getting onto every single 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:29.080 device that possibly could mobile PCs also making sure they 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:32.520 were on They started making apps for things like game consoles, 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:35.320 so I mean, whether you had a Nintendo console, a 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:37.720 Sony console, or a Microsoft console, you could get a 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:40.480 Netflix app and watch Netflix. That was a brilliant strategy 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:42.280 and it ended up being one that all the others 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:44.520 started to follow. Rumor has it that this year some 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:48.040 four K smart TV manufacturers are going to be announcing 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:50.920 a partnership with Netflix at cs. It would not shock 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.520 me at all, and you know that also will be 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:56.360 interesting to see about the whole two K and four 0:15:56.440 --> 0:16:00.400 K TVs because there's very little content you can get 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:03.760 that actually runs at those resolutions. The televisions are capable 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:08.120 of showing these super ultra high resolution images, but if 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:11.240 you don't have a source for those images, they don't 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:13.160 do much good. Well, it seems like a thing that 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.480 you buy, hoping enough other people will buy one, that 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:19.960 they'll that somebody will make something to sell you. You 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.880 just plug in your VHS, right, It'll either it it'll 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:26.520 either be the next generation of you know, the next 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:31.280 generation of home media, like a Blu ray drive or 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.400 DVD play or something that is able to show it 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:39.840 even greater resolution, or you have some incredible Internet connection 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:43.160 allowing you to watch this content. I mean, it would 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:46.280 have to be. Yeah, I'm wondering if it's really only 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:51.560 in like Google's like Kansas City in Austin and that's it. Yeah. 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:55.080 So no, I mean, I'm sure watching a VHS tape 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:57.840 of Highlander to the Quickening on a four KTV would 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.680 be pretty cool. I don't want you to talk for 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.720 the rest of this episode. I think it would be 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:06.520 cool to Joe or wait now, are you talking about 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:09.239 the original cinematic version of the renegade version? No? No, no, 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:12.640 the original before they cut out all of the hilarious, 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:15.879 all the aliens, there could be only one alright. So 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:19.119 uh and then finally, one of the last example I 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:23.000 have on my notes is um oh lead displays or displays. 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:25.080 So when I first went to c S, I think 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:27.960 it was two thousand eight was the first year that 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:31.080 I went. When I went to cs that year, I 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:34.520 remember seeing an O L E ed display and I 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:36.760 think it was so nis booth and it was an 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:41.760 amazing eleven inch display. Yeah. And so now we're getting 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:43.960 to the point where we're finally seeing this kind of 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:47.439 technology built into full size televisions. But you know, and 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.359 it's it's much more power efficient. Uh, you get a 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:54.879 great picture. But the manufacturing processes had not been refined 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:57.040 back in two thousand and eight. There's been work done 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:00.840 every year since. And also that a little leven inch 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:05.040 screen would have been something like, you know, three grand. Yeah, 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:07.679 so the price has also gone down as those manufacturing 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:11.160 processes have refined over time. So, okay, so these are 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:13.920 all examples of of big winners from previous shows. Let's 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:15.720 get some shot in freud in here. Okay, what what 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.440 has totally failed? The big one? That's the first one 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:20.919 on my notes is I think everyone would agree in 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:24.199 this room would agree three D three three D televisions 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:26.920 and three D displays is my shot in Freud Button 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:29.880 because I hate three D. I've been on the record 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:33.640 about this on this show before. I hate three D movies. 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:36.800 I hate it. I just it just doesn't I don't 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:38.760 like it at all. And then the and the expense 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:41.840 for consumer piece of equipment is just well, it's not 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.959 just expense too, it's also the thought of extra equipment, right, 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:47.400 because unless you have glasses free and I'll get to that, 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:49.560 but unless you have glasses free, then you have to 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:52.840 keep track of three D glasses. And if they are 0:18:52.920 --> 0:18:55.919 active glasses, then you also have to recharge them. You know, 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:58.560 if you have a passive system. Those are polarized lenses. 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.120 The lights polarized in such a way so that one 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.560 I gets one set of images, the other I gets 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:05.480 the other seven images, and then your brain combines them 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:08.160 to create that three D effect, right, I mean, yeah, 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:11.760 this is a mean, I mean, that's fact and a 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.520 migraine exactly. This is assuming people want to watch three 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:19.000 D in their homes day after day anyway, which I'm 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:21.480 not sure they do. But see, I think that's the 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:23.040 wrong way to look at this because the three D 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:26.240 television isn't meant to suggest that all content displayed on 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:28.720 that television is going to be in its three D capable. 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:31.959 It's three D capable, meaning that for specific times, like 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:34.680 let's say you're going to have a uh you, it's 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:37.960 just you. You are you are a curmudgeon, and you 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:40.240 don't like other people, but you love the super Bowl, 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:42.320 and you want to watch the super Bowl in three 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:44.879 D so that you can get this immersive experience. And really, 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:48.040 and you know that sports is a big deal with 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:51.040 three D. If you've ever seen any footage of a 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:53.720 sports event shot in three D, I guarantee you I 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:56.920 mean is phenomenal. It is gorgeous stuff. I've seen the 0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:00.920 demo tapes where they've shot things like ball games or 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:04.399 the Olympics, or in one case, a w w E 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:07.359 wrestling event in three D, and in all cases it 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:10.560 actually was really breathtaking. It felt like you were at 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:14.399 that place. But you you know, other things like a 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:16.480 cooking show, you might not want to see in three D. 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:18.159 You might there's no reason for it to be in 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:20.600 three D. You don't need to see Emerald threatening you 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:23.320 with a knife and shouting bam over and over again. 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:29.320 You want for that? That the two D experience, Yeah, 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:35.960