On the first day of CES in Las Vegas, a running theme that stands out amidst all the gadgetry and technology is that the explosion in innovation is being driven by regular folks. Like the people who listen to radio.
A spectacularly produced morning keynote presentation featured execs from Verizon, Time Warner, Motorola, and Google. And the connecting fiber all revolved around how the consumer is setting the tone for development and innovation.
Jeff Bewkes, the head of Time Warner, made it clear that it’s all about consumers and what they love to watch on TV. He preached that the main idea is to “Watch what you love. Anywhere. Anytime.” And he questioned why anyone needs a PhD to be able to enjoy TV, magazines, or other content on the screen or gadget of your choosing. The need to make it easy and keep it simple for the consumer was reiterated many times.
To that end, Motorola and Google are working together to create new products that merge consumer usage and innovation. Their Droid Bionic – coming in Q2 – signals “the end of waiting” while using a mobile device.
And then Google unveiled its new tablet platform – Honeycomb – which will be available on the new Motorola Xoom tablet. As they explained, “It multitasks so you don’t have to.”
>EMAIL RECIPIENTS: CLICK HERE TO VIEW GOOGLE’S HONEYCOMB DEMO VIDEO<
Verizon’s COO Lowell McAdam and CEO Ivan Seidenberg explained that while they’re essentially an engineering company, the goal is to integrate all the great content that companies like Time Warner creates into a fast, simple, and seamless experience for the consumer.
So for the largest convention in North America (more than 126,000 in attendance with 25,000+ from around the globe), the techie side of CES may have been overshadowed by the consumer who is driving much of this change. Sadly, radio does not have a starring role or even a cameo (outside of perhaps HD Radio) at this show. But the notion that broadcast owners and content creators should be focusing on consumer needs and desires was not lost on me.
The “Have it our way” attitude of days gone is not in-synch with the demands of consumers today. As Bewkes noted during his segment, the audience who subscribes to cable, satellite TV, or even a magazine ought to be able to enjoy that content on demand, and on any device or gadget he desires. Period.
The “customer as king” theme carried over in a late morning session called “iPad-Tablet-Smartphone Advertising,” as the panel struggled to define why tablets are different from mobile phones. And Cameron Friedlander from Designkitchen reminded everyone that at CES last year, “we were all talking about netbooks.” Today, it’s tablets, and once again, the consumer is dictating that changing emphasis, thanks in large part to their acceptance of Apple’s iPad.
It is fast and furious in the word of consumer electronics. And the “consumer” part of that label appears to be very much in control.
We’ll be back on Monday with more reports from CES, and you can follow Paul and me on Twitter. @fnjacobs and @pauljacobsmedia
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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I listened to the always excellent Public Radio “Marketplace” show Wednesday night, first day of CES:
Aside from the fact that the reporter had to conduct his conversation with the show host via landline-based pay phone (hotel convention center wifi was down and he had no cell phone signal on the display floor), he offered this notable observation regarding “Tablets” –
“So there is something like 80-100 new tablets being unveiled here. (People) want to build something that’s slick, but cheaper than the iPad and then grab a piece of the business. (Most here) think that’s not going to work – the iPad will probably remain the dominant tablet next year. If you can buy a $99 tablet, but it’s a piece of junk, then it’s really not that cool.”
More credit to the beyond-the-horizon vision and juggernaut power of the Apple brand to create an entirely new market for a new product we didn’t know we really needed (and really don’t need, but want), and looks suspiciously close to the device carried around by crew members in the ’60s version of “Star Trek.”
Of course, there’s that little secret regarding CES – few of the cool new life-altering, time-sucking gadgets and products you see on tech news reports will actually hit store shelves when they are announced at the show. Most CES-debuted product launches actually occur in March, April, or May. Not so oddly, that’s just about the same time Apple will release their second-generation iPad.