Today, a team of four Jacobs Media/jācapps travelers are heading to Las Vegas to allegedly conquer CES. In yesterday’s post, we talked about the wisdom of the APE plan – attitude, preparation, and effort. At CES, we’ll be putting it to the test.
It is, in fact, a challenge to master the sensory overload at CES that continuously pelts you like an asteroid storm, every minute you’re on the floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center. As 10-year veterans of this multi-media assault, we know what we’re getting into.
It helps to have a plan, and that’s where the prep part comes into play. Every year, we try to anticipate some of the key areas and themes before they become obvious – and then construct an itinerary to match. And yet, every year, we get surprised by things we experience at CES.
But we do know automotive will once again be a much-talked about space, thanks in large part to advances in both autonomous and electrification technology. How all this affects the radio industry remains to be seen. We will be spending time talking with automakers and technologists about self-driving cars and shared mobility, and how radio may be impacted by vehicles where the dashboard equipment appears to be as big a mystery as deep space.
We know that wearables – that is, smartwatches – will once again be the topic of conversation as these gadgets drift into the health sector. Up to this point, however, these compact wrist computers have been pretty much a black hole.
Then there’s VR, AR, AI, machine learning, the Internet of Things, “skinny bundles,” and the rest of the tech advancements we can’t wait to get our hands on. Which will step to the forefront and which will fade into the background?
But last year’s champion – voice command devices in the form of smart speakers – has the best chance of pulling off a repeat performance. To punctuate its importance, Google is actually showing up this year at CES – their first appearance in years. And we expect to see Amazon just about everywhere.
And that begs the question about the future of voice and how it may change our lives, our homes, our workplaces, and perhaps even our mobile devices. Last January, we saw “Alexa” embedded in robots, dashboards, and other devices. We’ll be on the lookout for additional sightings, as well as competing voices like Siri, Cortana, and Google’s still unnamed “Assistant.”
Many believe that voice is the future, possibly replacing keyboards as a way to search for and access content consumers are seeking. And while the technology has come a long way, and has gotten better by the month, there are some who still experience problems issuing commands to a gadget and hoping for an expected result.
To illustrate this, the folks at Screen Junkies put together a compelling example of voice commands that are somewhat lost in space. Using the most amazing film about space travel ever produced – Stanley Kubrick’s classic “2001: A Space Odyssey” – the end result leaves something to be desired as astronaut Dave Bowman (played by Keir Dullea) struggles to get through to the HAL 9000 onboard computer – played by our new friend, “Alexa.”
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In space, no one can hear Dave scream. But you can best believe that many of us are still yelling commands at our new smart speakers with less than the desired results.
Live long, and speak clearly.
We’ll be presenting a free “Best of CES” webinar in partnership with Inside Radio on Thursday, January 25th at 2pm ET. Register here.
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 do look forward to these blogs, Fred. However we can’t forget the real reason we do what we do. We need to provide compelling entertainment for our listener regardless of the platform. Whether it’s voice activated or dialed in, it’s not going to matter if it’s crap.
Dave, thanks for the comment. When new technologies are introduced, there is often growing pains associated with them. That’s clearly the case with most smart speakers where there is still some clunkiness – including consumers uttering the correct invocation in order to enjoy a result. That works in many cases, but the overall experience is still a work in progress. Appreciate your observations.