Toyland: The CES Display Of Rampant Capitalism

By Jeff Harding, on January 12th, 2012

I just returned form the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where I and 139,999 other people checked out anything you would ever want electronically. Let me tell you, if anyone ever thought of anything electronic, someone else already made it and it’s there. The only problem is finding it. There are 3,100 exhibitors in several huge convention halls the size of 37 football fields (1.85 million net square feet of exhibit space).

The exhibitors and attendees are from all over the world. I, being a pretty good linguist, heard languages that I couldn’t recognize. Here is a picture of what the scene looks like:

Yes, it is like that everywhere.

We were estimating that the cost of putting up a display area like this one by Samsung had to be $10+ million. They have to rent the floor space by the square foot, use union labor for the set up and construction, pay for equipment logistics, the cost of structures and exhibit area, staffing (hotels, food, transportation), conference rooms, suites for parties and entertaining customers, pretty girls, and celebrities, if any, etcetera. Little companies with the smallest 8″ booth have to spend about $100,000 I am told.

There were “celebrities” if you needed to attract more attention to your product(s). I didn’t see any of them but here is a partial list: Justin Bieber (do they give him hormones to not finish puberty?), Dennis Rodman (talking about hormones), Snooki (don’t ask), LL Cool J, Robert Horry, John Sally, 50 Cent. I ran out of data when they got to Baby Boogaloo, Alistair Overeem, and Wayne Brady. Chicago was playing at some event (not invited). Actually we did talk to Dale Dolby, Ray’s brother and collaborator in creating Dolby Sound. From their garage they went to the rest of the world. As to Justin Bieber, I don’t know what he charges to make these appearances but he appreared forTosy, a Vietnamese robotic manufacturer that no one every heard of—until now. I did manage to run into our own celebrity, Keith Weiner who is a tech entrepreneur and gave a talk at the show.

There were many, many pretty women there. Understand that the attendees are mostly males and this is Las Vegas … so, there was plenty of cheesecake. All they had to do is look pretty and pose. A sampling:

Sorry ladies, but I know my audience.

The media were there in droves. Radio and TV were everywhere getting interviews and film clips. Everyone was taking pictures with cameras and cell phones (me).

In my 1.5 days there, I didn’t get past North and Central halls. But we saw some great new TV products. In fact they were incredible. Some of the thinnest, sharpest, clearest, most magnificent colors ever seen on a screen. 

The new TV products are incredible and I feel much sadness for those of you who just bought those little old 720p 42″ TVs for Super Bowl. I’m telling you that the manufacturers have turned things up a notch, at least in my eyes. Look for Samsung, Sony, and LG. LG and Samsung had fabulous OLED TVs. The new 3D TVs were fabulous as well, although I wouldn’t want one for everyday viewing. They fatigue my brain. But LG had this incredible entry display along a 100′ wall with a collection of their 3D TVs assembled so they displayed one image which was as good as any theater image I’ve seen (think Avatar). I thought the best looking picture was from the Samsung 55″ OLED TV coming out sometime in 2013. Get one.

Walking around the floor you hit the smaller booths and after about ten rows of folks selling cases for phones and tablets, you kind of wonder how there can be so many manufacturers—mostly Chinese or Taiwanese—selling the same damned things. You want cases with serious bling, or wood, or bamboo, or carbon fiber, or leather, or silicone, or materials I had no idea what they were, they’ve got it. But you get numb and overwhelmed by the quantity. Some resort to loud music and lights to lure you in:

In my short time there, two products stood out. One was a PowerBag, a bag that charges up your devices when you’re on the go:

And the other one was, hold on for this, the Art Pro Nail Printer, a device that will print on your nails any image you want. You want your kids or grandkids, your girlfriends or boyfriends, or your dog, do it:

I know, pretty pedestrian among all the fabulous electronics, and not as cool as a 3D printer, but … this one will be a hit in nail salons which are about the most ubiquitous business in these United States.

Some of the big auto manufacturers were there as well touting their electronics packages. Plus a lot of after-market equipment guys (they play a lot of country music). The coolest thing was this Audi Urban:

I want one as long as I have the only one in town. Of the group, Ford showed off the new Fusion which I have to admit was very cool looking with its Aston Martin-like grill. They also had an Evo gullwing concept car. Ford is the only US company that wasn’t bailed out, so support them if you insist on buying American.

For more detailed coverage on some cool stuff go to Digital Trends.

This is the second time I’ve seen the show and for me it is Toyland since I come as a consumer, not as someone in the business. When you think about it this entire show is dedicated to one thing only: pleasing me and you. They provide us with gadgets we want and we willingly part with our cash to get them. These products are made all over the world from materials that come from all over the world.” It requires complex coordination and cooperation between private individuals and businesses to get it done. The ultimate goal of production, at least in a capitalist system is: us. From the beginning of shoveling dirt out of the ground to the consumer end product, the whole system is geared to pleasing us. What a great system. And the CES is ground zero.