Consumer Electronics Heaven
So, I finally made it to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year. I have had show floor passes for the past three years and something has always come up at the last minute. If you are unaware of just what this show is all about, there are numerous "geek" sites out there who can more than tell you about it including Cnet, G4, Make Magazine, and innumerable others.
To be fair, I only went for about three hours on the final day (which is often the best day to really get to see a show because the masses have thinned). However, this is definitely not the amount of time if you really need to see the show. After all, it takes up all of the Las Vegas Convention Center as well as meeting and convention space at many of the large hotels nearby like the Las Vegas Hilton and the Venetian. So, even if I didn't stop to look at any products or talk to the vendors, there's no way to see it all in that amount of time. But, it really isn't my industry.
As stagehands, especially those who also moonlight in the audio/visual industry, consumer electronics will somehow become part of our life. No, I am not talking about your awesome home theater, but those clients who don't understand the difference between consumer and professional grade equipment. Certainly there's also the "pro-sumer" grade which helps to further confuse the issue, but we can ignore that at the moment. It's really important to keep up on the consumer equipment for a few reasons. If you happen to work with clients outside of our industry, that will most likely be what they are familiar with and you need to know how to speak with them on their level. If you work in a market where the client is allowed to bring in some of their own equipment, you need to understand the consumer product and how to connect it to your professional equipment and keep the client happy. The main reason that I think all good stagehands should keep an eye on the consumer market is that it may be the driving force behind the professional systems in the future.
One item of interest that I found was for equipment storage. It used to be, everyone talked about Pelican cases. Later, I found Storm Case and chose them because I liked their latch design better than Pelican. Now, I have found my new favorite equipment case, Nanuk. I have added them to my store (over on the left). The latch design is superior even to Storm Case and has the added bonus of being fabricated for panel mount, standard. Also, while meeting military specifications, they are slightly lighter than the other two brands. Other products, not yet available in the United States, included a charging system that can safely charge alkaline batteries up to 12 times with 80% efficiency at the last charge. The first set of batteries could easily save you more than the purchase price of the item. I'll keep you updated.
Maybe in one of the years to come, I'll spend more time at the show. I'm a geek, I love the gadgets, and it would be cool to open my own store to sell the coolest products out there. It could happen.
To be fair, I only went for about three hours on the final day (which is often the best day to really get to see a show because the masses have thinned). However, this is definitely not the amount of time if you really need to see the show. After all, it takes up all of the Las Vegas Convention Center as well as meeting and convention space at many of the large hotels nearby like the Las Vegas Hilton and the Venetian. So, even if I didn't stop to look at any products or talk to the vendors, there's no way to see it all in that amount of time. But, it really isn't my industry.
As stagehands, especially those who also moonlight in the audio/visual industry, consumer electronics will somehow become part of our life. No, I am not talking about your awesome home theater, but those clients who don't understand the difference between consumer and professional grade equipment. Certainly there's also the "pro-sumer" grade which helps to further confuse the issue, but we can ignore that at the moment. It's really important to keep up on the consumer equipment for a few reasons. If you happen to work with clients outside of our industry, that will most likely be what they are familiar with and you need to know how to speak with them on their level. If you work in a market where the client is allowed to bring in some of their own equipment, you need to understand the consumer product and how to connect it to your professional equipment and keep the client happy. The main reason that I think all good stagehands should keep an eye on the consumer market is that it may be the driving force behind the professional systems in the future.
One item of interest that I found was for equipment storage. It used to be, everyone talked about Pelican cases. Later, I found Storm Case and chose them because I liked their latch design better than Pelican. Now, I have found my new favorite equipment case, Nanuk. I have added them to my store (over on the left). The latch design is superior even to Storm Case and has the added bonus of being fabricated for panel mount, standard. Also, while meeting military specifications, they are slightly lighter than the other two brands. Other products, not yet available in the United States, included a charging system that can safely charge alkaline batteries up to 12 times with 80% efficiency at the last charge. The first set of batteries could easily save you more than the purchase price of the item. I'll keep you updated.
Maybe in one of the years to come, I'll spend more time at the show. I'm a geek, I love the gadgets, and it would be cool to open my own store to sell the coolest products out there. It could happen.
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