Friday, January 18, 2008

Clues from the CES

Visiting the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is inspiring yet frustrating. Some things are very cool, but with others you ask, 'why would anyone buy this?' With wireless phones, the trend is toward more iPhone- and PDA-like devices. But I don't see us rushing out and replacing our "ordinary" cell phones anytime soon.

However, in other countries of the world, people are accessing the Internet more with wireless devices than desktop or laptop computers. Even in Japan, a computer in the home is not common, but an Internet capable phone is.

My young son has been using the family computer castoffs, but now pines for more speed and capabilities. It just could be his generation won't be tied to something with a 14-inch or larger screen, but something much smaller and portable. My kid's first "computer" may be one of these devices with the eensy-weensy QWERTY keyboards that most of us wouldn't (or couldn't) touch.

Those guys at the CES may be on to something. However, I am still not interested in watching TV on a 2-inch screen. I'm over at the 150-inch plasmas. Even bad TV looks good there.

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