CES 2023: Disconnected Technology

A search for seamless experiences that brings emerging tech from the Las Vegas booths and convention ballrooms and into galvanic, aspirational real-life use cases

CES has begun to feel more like a giant electronics store the last few years rather than a full-scale, unified preview of the tech that will influence how we work, play, shop, travel, create, communicate, and live.

This isn’t the typical weary anticipation the washes over every veteran CES attendee at the end of December in advance of the January 5-8 event. In many ways, CES is more alive than any time in the past three years.?

Certainly, big tech leaders Microsoft, Google, Samsung, LG, Garmin will be there. And brands from Delta Air Lines to Mercedes-Benz will be demonstrating their separate visions of future transportation.

Even John Deere Chairman and CEO John May will give an ambitious keynote on the future of feeding the planet. It’s the first time an agricultural company has been given such a prominent position at CES.

The tractor manufacturer’s appearance highlights a number of the defining topics set to dominate the trade show’s discussion: the future of food tech, health & wellness, and what Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, which owns and operates CES,?calls?“human security.”

That last term highlights both the promise and the challenge of CES’s vision and aspirations. CES’s promotion of “human security” centers on the use of tech to support human rights, greater access to food, health care, clean air and water. The initiative is being brought to CES through a partnership between the CTA, the United Nations, and the World Academy of Art and Science.

It's surely a worthy goal. Especially at a time of endless global crises. Tech?is?always an integral solution to solving the world’s problems.

But it also underscores the problem of CES 2023: Without a well-defined rationale and clear lines of organization, the trade show’s ability to affect change and inspire people to integrate advanced tech into how they live will be sorely limited.?

In the worst case scenario, these tremendous efforts could just come off as “all just for show.” Without a coherent narrative linking all these disparate goals and surrounding technologies together, these ambitions will be regarded as nothing more than non-working display models in an electronics store.

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Returning to the electronics store

Think about walking through the automatic sliding doors of a big box retailer to see and touch the latest electronics or home appliances.

You hit the TV section first. Then you’d walk into the speaker/audio section. Keep going and you find yourself in the separate home theater section. You walk out and can turn a variety of directions: Should I see the air conditioners and dish washers? Or should I see what’s going on with doorbells? Is there a reason to visit the laptop section?

There’s all this new equipment and gadgetry. It’s easy to see how any of the items in those store sections could fit into your life. But is there any way to see how they all fit together in a completely new way? Of course not. It’s a store, not an amusement park.

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Bigger than Alexa

The thing is, CES used to have that amusement park atmosphere, albeit a fantasyland designed by and for technical engineers. That cohesion among the wares being exhibited at CES felt like you were actually experiencing the world of tomorrow.

Looking back at the CES of 20 years ago, one felt the power of how all these emerging technologies were going to have a galvanic force in our lives because there was a clear narrative thread running through the booths to the keynotes. The ideas, the discussions, the technologies all dovetailed.

You went back to home, back to work with a framework. Even a few years ago, when Amazon Alexa dazzled attendees at CES, you couldn’t help but walk away feeling the power of voice activation. And you understood how it would change the nature of search and shopping; you knew it would change the way you access information and entertainment and advertising. It would change communication even as it changed the way you turned off the lights.

Voice activation wasn’t about a company or a single product; it was so much bigger than that. It was about entering the Age of the Connected Home.?

To reiterate, the long list of topics you’ll hear and see at CES is truly impressive on their own. But it’s not enough to talk about emerging Food Tech in one area and web3 in another. It’s not enough to talk about Generative AI in one area and celebrate the launch of the latest giant TV screen in another.

It’s not enough to talk about Electric Vehicles and “Human Security” as if any of these categories have nothing to say to and about the other parts in other booths and ballrooms.?

CES has to reflect why people still attend. It’s not just for a prominent celebrity’s well-meaning views on food insecurity or privacy and social media. People don’t go to CES to get a different version of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.

The majority of CES attendees do want a better world. But CES’ priorities seem, in some cases, overly broad and perhaps, too idolistic?

CES’s attraction, always, is about showing attendees the practical value of breaking new ground. The fundamentally practical part relies on opening people’s eyes about where and how these pioneering efforts are showing the actual impact on people and their personal world.

So this year, I expect a few areas to stand out:

?? electric vehicles/infrastructure

?? streaming video and connected television

?? wearable tech…geared toward health/wellness/fitness

?? immersive experiences (yes, the metaverse), particularly those that focus on blending the physical and the digital

What are you anticipating at CES this year?

Greg Kahn

GK Digital Ventures

email: [email protected]

web: www.gkdigitalventures.com

Twitter: @GK_ventures