It has been a week since I have returned from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE) in Las Vegas and I’ve recovered from the trip, digested what I saw and dug through the various marketing information I obtained while in the show’s halls. I am not going to regurgitate the marketing hype and “exciting” new product offerings you’ve undoubtedly seen on TV, in papers and most likely websites. Instead I’ll give you a riders perspective of the show and what it really means to those of us on 2 wheels, because after all, that’s what it’s all about!
To start it might help to understand why I am covering both shows together, as their focus may seem to be different. For consumers they are in a sense different, but at the base level they are both shows that provide entertainment and judging by the amount of people with bags from CES at AEE the interest (whether trivial or active) seems to be there. As I said above I look at things from a different perspective as technology and the overall health of the economy can be judged when looking at these shows.
Attendance and Presence
I’ve been attending the CES shows since 1989 and have been around the AEE show since 1999 and regardless of the marketing spin, both shows are down in size drastically! When I talk about the size of the show I am talking about the number of companies displaying and the size of the booths and outside displays. The attendance numbers are a bit different as AEE allows fans to pay to enter the shows and CES is industry only. AEE’s fan attendance was marked at 22,000 so they are doing well in that regard, but a walk around the hall showed that the Adult Industry, much like many others, has been affected by the economy and most specifically by the Internet.
What I find very interesting is that both shows occupied considerably less space than they did just two years ago, both dropped about half the hall space in that time. It was a lot easier to see the drop at the AEE shows but the CES show dropped venues and wasn’t even using all of the Las Vegas Convention Center floor. Now, I don’t see the shrinking as a sinking of the ship so to speak, but more of a thinning of the herd and a change of mindset. We used to need shows like this before the connected age, but today we don’t. Thus proven by the fact that most everyone reading this has already seen most everything cool shown at the shows.
The Big StuffLeading the list was 3D TV, but a guy I overheard on a shuttle talking to his friend summed it up best. He said “I guess I need to now replaced my new BlueRay discs, played and HD TV with new 3D discs, a $5000 3D TV and a Player…..NOT!” The market can evolve, but I am not so sure people are willing to sit in their living rooms with funky glasses…. Now, when Oakley introduces a prescription custom 3D offering, the tide may be turning. The cool thing about the 3D offerings are that HD and other related TV products are getting cheaper and more readily accessible. The thing to remember about all of this is regards to motorcycling is that for people who like to sit inside, there will be more to do.
Along the sitting inside front, I found a very interesting product at the AEE shows which I am certain will lead to lower work performance and college test scores in the future. The product is called the Real Touch and folks, let me tell you, it is at a technological and business perspective, it is very cool. Basically it is a interactive toy for guys that connect to your computer via a USB connection and interacts with specially coded videos. If you want more details look it up using Google or drop me a line and I’ll give you a link. The bottom line is that as a first Gen product it does what it says and judging by the attention at the show, they’ll get sold. Keep that thought and I’ll wrap up why it is important later.
The Rest of The Stuff
CES is a Gadget show and AEE is, well….a Sex show and guess what? They both delivered.
Two themes seemed prevalent at CES, the first was smart phones, both cases and charging and cameras, still and video. The smart phone cases were easy to see and understand, each company offering coolest graphics and best protection, someone somewhere could start a test and by the time they collected all the options to test the amount would be double. Solar seems to be coming on strong for a lot of products, starting at smart phones, so the true green initiative should yield a lot of options for riders in the coming years.
At AEE it was very obvious that the Internet has cut into that show and they are looking for new ways to sell conventional offline video and print productions. The show even drew national attention with the introduction of a Sex Robot. I’m pretty open to new things and as a guy that rides a motorcycle certainly a perv or sorts, but the sex robot….a bit much for me.
My Picks
First of all the best bike of the shows wasn’t actually on either’s shows floor, but if I had to pick one on the floor it would be the bike in Kicker’s booth, a nice bagger that I don’t have a picture of for one reason or another.
The coolest being shown in Vegas was this bobbed Sportster in the Rockford Fosgate ballroom. Yes, the company my wife works for but no, not my bike.
The gadget section of CES showed a bunch of different solar panels that when used on the road would be a good way to keep a phone charged. But the best emergency device was the Yogen emergency charger. It is basically a charger that works by pulling a cord to create energy to charge with. When I found the Yogen booth I was actually showing red (20%) on my phone, I used it for just a couple minutes and was able to get 3 hours more use out of my phone until I retrieved my Zagg Sparq backup battery pack. The company makes several models and I’ll be carrying one on my bike from now on.
For some reason I stumbled upon this very cool flashlight that not only is convenient size wise, but also has various accessories that would be great for riding. I’ll be doing a full review on this product later, but for now this is the Spotlight.
I spotted about 5 different “sports” type cams, some bullet type like the one Midland was showing, I wish I could tell you more but the guy at the booth was such an idiot I had to walk away.
The coolest cam I saw was this one that is integrated into goggles, they report they will have a Dirt Bike model soon. It does stills and video and the controls are built to be used with the goggles on and with gloves. The coolest part? A light that shows operation at the bottom of the lens, so you know what is happening.
For the adventure rider Spot made a introduction of a new product that will work with a GPS to be able to send text messages through their system, it is more of a system for hikers, but could be used and quite possibly will be adapted for motorcycle use.
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day both shows are cool and fun, but what does it mean to us, motorcycle riders, right?
Well, as far as I saw there are at least a few certainties coming down the road.
1 – The ability to communicate and to be able to charge devices on the road will be getting better as things evolve. Bluetooth technology is getting smaller and more reliable, but until the makers of such products take the time to understand how we as riders use them we will not be as connected as some might want. Personally I don’t want to get calls while riding and I am perfectly happy with hand signals for communication. But as things evolve, distracted cages will not be the only worry.
2 – There are going to be more and more things for people to do while sitting on their butt at home. For us riders it is a double-edged sword. It means at times less folks on the road, but when they are on the road their skills will be diminished and I see no end to distracted driving. Watching people take off 3D glasses and then walk into each other as they re-orientate themselves was interesting and I for one will be cognizant of theatres showing those movies and will plan accordingly. However, if it moves mainstream we’ll have a lot more to consider.
3 – The flip side is revolt from the norm. This year I only saw 3 motorcycles used to display, which tells me that it is becoming less common and more as an individualist based activity. That means that in the next 6 months we most likely will be seeing a surge in people wanting to get out of the house and out to do something and motorcycling being what it is, we most likely will be seeing them on the road or in the dirt.
With anything the allure of a thing can always be different than the experience. Much like the girl below found out after she got what she thought she wanted…
But, for those of us who know and love what motorcycles bring to the table, the risk is well worth the reward.
You can find all the photos I took at both shows, there isn’t really any nudity (I think) but some of the shots would be considered Not Work Safe, so browse at your own risk!
Flickr Shots!
Till next time, Ride Safe!
