The Consumer Electronics Showcase of 2006

First, there's the the following articles:

• A Happy CES Camper
• That New Elvis Impersonator Smell
• Broadcasting Live From CES!
• Consuming CES
• Consumer Electronic Showcase, Day 0

And now, my summation of this year's CES (Consumer Electronics Showcase):

1. 2006 was more evolutionary than revolutionary. “Oh, look – another LCD screen!” Next year might be more interesting with the release of Windows Vista as Jake Ludington has speculated (I don't wanna link to him right now because I'm afraid I'll win his Xbox).
2. If you're going to give someone a backpack at a large event, make sure it has wheels. Over-the-shoulder stuff becomes a pain after 10 minutes of walking. The “press coordinators” got it right this year, and everybody else wanted what we had.
3. CES is getting too big – you can't possibly see everything even if you run through every hall at top speed in every location at any given moment. The Consumer Electronics Showcase should be split up into several conventions for its own good. You can't get to meetings easily, you can't get to parties easily, you can't get to your friends easily, you can't do anything but an impression of a sardine.
4. There are entirely too many iPod Accessory manufacturers on this planet.
5. Anybody can get in as press, and that's a bad thing. CES needs to raise the bar a thousand miles – even if that means that ID10Ts like me can't register as a member of the press. That said, Showstoppers was well produced and had vendors worth speaking with (with a photo of Dan Gillmor on their main page).
6. Microsoft should've highlighted the HD-DVD addition to the Xbox 360 instead of mentioning it as an aside. This is huge news.
7. Swag was few and far between, with good swag even more rare. Here's a hint: if you really want people to come to your booth, give them bottled water and chapstick – because that's the only way they're going to survive walking ten miles in Vegas (indoors or outdoors). Best swag: ZoneLabs with their USB keyboard vaccuum!
8. If you want to get attention, carry around a camera on some kind of tripod – everybody will stop you every five seconds. “Who are you? Where are you from? Can I show you something?” I never knew it was so easy.
9. I'm still trying to figure out why Google was there? It's the Consumer Electronics Showcase… where's the hardware, man? A bundle of software stuff with third-party software stuff that I don't want to install? Pshaw. The only Google product I have installed on my system is Picasa (which sports an amazing design, unlike every other Google desktop product, because it was acquired from developers who understood UI). If Google spent some money on software design, I'd consider sticking with the products for longer than five minutes.
10. Convergence is a lie.

But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

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