Exploring a virtual CES 2021

Jeff Porten, TidBITS:

Having attended the show roughly 20 times, I can scan several hundred booths in an hour, giving each one a brief opportunity to strike me as novel and worth more time. Compare that to the screenshot below, which appears to be the booth experience this year.

Here’s a link to the exhibitor directory. Unless you know what you are looking for, there’s very little info here, nothing to tease you, arouse your curiosity.

Beyond that, so much of the value of CES is tactile. Whether it’s getting hands-on with a production model that won’t be released until April, seeing a prototype under glass, or just getting a sense of whether a company has their act together—even if it’s just two guys in a garage—nothing beats being there in person.

Wondering if the CES folks thought COVID would pass and they’d actually have an in person show, didn’t have the time to create a truly virtual experience.

That aside, Jeff does follow with some CES items that caught his attention. Take a look.