Yuhnke Technology Blog: Consumer Electronics Show is impressive but why does it really matter?

PHOENIX - The Consumer Electronics Show is technology overload. It’s the the one week every year that tech companies plan for. It’s the worldwide stage where they can show off the newest, coolest, wackiest, geekiest new things that their engineers have been toiling over in a dark room for months. CES is impressive. So what?

The Future

The future is always fun to see but it’s usually too expensive and sometimes just a pipe dream. Ultra HDTVs were a big part of CES this year but none of us will have one in our living room by this time next year. They’ll cost $10,000+ and may not ever make it to the Best Buy floor in 2013. Some day? Sure! But this year it falls into the “future tech that is still a few years off and WAY too expensive for most of us” category.

The Wacky Stuff

The goofy technology is interesting too. The iPotty , a training toilet for kids with an iPad holder built in. The  BodyRhythm , an over-the-shoulder bib type of thing that delivers beats from your smartphone to your shoulders. The HAPIfork , a bluetooth enabled fork that vibrates to tell you that you’re eating too fast.  These are fun to talk about but at the end of the day, come on?!?! How many of us will have a bluetooth fork in our kitchen by 2014? Zero. How many of us really think our kid needs a potty training seat with an iPad attached? Zero. How many of us need mad beats delivered directly to our shoulders? Zero. It’s niche tech that will probably find a market somewhere but not in most of our homes.

Trends Matter

What really matters at CES are trends. Big trends that WILL actually set the stage for the next year. 

Smartphones with 5” screens, also known as phablets. They’re here and will become a big trend this year. 

Seven-inch tablet computers for less than $150. They’re here and many of us will finally jump into the tablet world because of them. Affordability always helps drive a segment of technology into our homes. 

Cloud-connected technology. We’re already seeing wi-fi and bluetooth built into almost everything and we’ll see a whole lot more of that in 2013. I’m not talking about the connected fork, I’m talking about the connected car, television, appliances and more. Things that will actually make sense in your home and make life a little bit bit easier. 

These trends matter. These trends will impact your life in 2013. These trends will help to shape technology over the next 12 months. All the other stuff? Well, that stuff is just fun to drool over. We can all dream, right? 

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