If you haven’t read Farhad Manjoo’s “The Gadget Apocalypse Is Upon Us” – I’d suggest you take a couple of minutes to read the scathing article about the future of gadgets. Winter for gadgets isn’t coming. In fact, we’re in gadget renaissance. Everyone still wants them, even as Pebble, Fitbit, and Nest are all struggling or have failed. They’re having problems because, well, hardware is capital intensive. I strongly disagree with Farhad, gadgets are having a renaissance. They’re being launched left and right on Kickstarter, succeeding even as the cards are stacked against them.
With CES around the corner I’ve been pitched on more gadgets than ever before; Smart trash cans, 360-degree cameras, and dongles – lots of dongles. CES is the gadget hotspot. While many tech journalists will say CES is dull, unimportant – it’s, in fact, one of the most important events of the year. The event is where all the who’s who attend from around the industry. Gadget, phone, and laptop announcements still happen. This year is no different, but I’ve seen more gadgets and phone announcements planned for the event.
Without breaking any embargoes, I cannot explain how pumped I am for the event. While we aren’t going to see Samsung, Apple or Microsoft make a big splash. We are seeing up and coming Chinese phone makers produce great announcements during the event. LG and Lenovo may announce new phones. Faraday Future is holding a groundbreaking event again, albeit the events outside of CES it’s still grouped together with the conference. There are rumblings of HTC announcing new Vive hardware, and other rumors swirling around what will happen this year.
This doesn’t sound like a boring event to me! It hasn’t been this way for the past couple of years, however. The event had turned into a place where backroom dealing happened, where Best Buy bought TV’s for their stores, and Chinese companies showed they could build hardware. That’s still going on, but more companies understand everyone’s eyes are on the news from the event. These companies want to be the breakout product or keep the conversation around them.
One way or another, CES feels more action packed this year. Announcements and rumors are getting my blood pumping. I’d love to hear what you think CES will bring this year – Will HTC announce a new Vive 2.0, will Faraday Future break away from all the talk of bad finances, or will the event be another boring one.