Unless you like huge crowds and overpriced hotel rooms, stay out of Las Vegas this week. The biggest electronic show in the world, CES) is on now. Actually, the show doesn’t officially open until tomorrow (Wednesday), but there are a ton of previews, press conferences and keynote speeches today (see story #1).
This is a big show…and I mean a really big show. It takes place in 3 large facilities in Vegas with show floor space totalling 1.87 Million square feet. It can cost a vendor up to $150,000 to rent an average sized space. The big booths can cost a lot more. Is it worth it?
Well, about 170,000 people from around the world are expected to attend. The technology press is covering the event in depth. Actually, the coverage is so great that there is no reason to attend. These days, products are announced or leaked over the Internet, so there are few surprises at the show.
Although I have never been to CES, I used to go every year to the Comdex show about this same time of year. It was just as big, if not bigger than CES. One year, the show was in five different locations. Some years ago, Comdex merged with CES so that computers and all electronic devices are now under one roof.
At Comdex, I saw thousands of businessmen and women nicely dressed, but mostly wearing sneakers. Early on, I found out why. Your feet will hurt bigtime without proper shoes as the show is so big. Even with sneakers, your are happy to get back to your over-priced hotel room to soak your feet.
While I don’t miss these tech shows, and definitely don’t miss Las Vegas, I have many happy memories of my time at Comdex and I always learned a great deal. But, of course, that is before the Internet started announcing neat new products in advance of the show. Whatever, I will be covering more of the show (while happily ensconsed in my Tucson home) in the next edition. There are some interesting products be shown for the first time. But for now, you can get a good overview from our first two stories. -JRC
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