Evolution of The CES

[gansky1]

Check out the early days of the Consumer Electronics Show! It would be fun to blink back in time for a day-trip to various eras in the past. The CES would be on my blink-list for sure.

http://mashable.com/2015/01/03/ces-history/?utm_cid=lf-toc

 

[whirlcool]

We went for several years in the 90's and early 2000's. A friend of ours owned an electronics store and asked me to come along to explain some of the new technologies we would see at the show.

We went in 94' when Windows 95' was announced. On the airplane they handed out chocolate "kisses" in the shape of the Start button and it said "Start" on the button. At the airport there were signs everywhere saying "Welcome Bill!". Then there was skywriting which said "Welcome Bill Gates".

Bill Gates was the opening speaker for CES that year. In his speech he said the integration of Internet and Television would be coming very soon. That soon we would have one appliance in our home for both home and internet. He was only off by about 20 years.

This is also where I first saw my very first HDTV. They were all CRT models and very wide screened. But the pictures were definitely much clearer and sharper than anything I had seen before. You could really see DETAIL in the picture.

There is a lot of good stuff there, but also a lot of junk. I can't tell you how many vendors I saw selling cell phone covers there.

Then when we went in 2001 the AVN awards show was held there. We got tickets for that. I think more people went to see the AVN booths than did the CES booths. It was definitely "Meet Your Favorite Porn Star" moments!

 

[a440]

Fun!

Greg this is awesome!  I would love to go back in time with what I know today and enjoy all of the years!

I think I saw Don Draper and Peggy Olson in one of the photo's!

Thanks for the link.

B

 

[paulg]

Very cool!

I wondered where all those old pictures went.
I was able to attend the CES at McCormick Place once, then in later years I ended up working the CES doing my "Carol Merrill" routine for four years in Vegas.
It would have been fun to see the show in the very early years.
True story:
At my first CES, I wandered into a display for a very cheap (and now defunct) stereo manufacturer. Bookshelf stereos were lined up on the counter.
I went to touch one stereo and it literally fell apart like a house of cards! It was a fake mockup that barely stood up. I quickly got out of dodge leaving the sort-of-pieced-back-together stereo behind.
For many years I believed the company made such crap that they couldn't even make a fake any good. However recently someone suggested that it was a gag stereo. I guess I'll never know.
One of my friends was a model for the Auto Show at McCormick Place. When I used to complain about standing ten hours a day on the floor, she would reply: "Try doing it in HEELS!"

 

[twintubdexter]

I went to CES way back in 80-83. I was buying "Personal Electronics"...stuff like calculators, phone answering and digital watches. Compared to the big-ticket world of TV/Stereo I previously had (the store leased it due to very poor industry-wide margins) the new area was boring although I suppose it was better than buying "Ladies Foundations"...exactly how exciting can the latest model of brassiere be?

 

While at CES I would have loved to look at audio and video but I was on company time and was expected not to browse vendors that didn't concern me. Still, it was an enjoyable experience.

 

 

 

[paulg]

Our attitude was a bit different...

Actually, the notion of visiting other manufacturers' displays was condoned by our company... Gotta see what everyone else was doing.
Sometimes we had no choice! I was working for a large TV manufacturer at the time. Sometimes at CES a person from another company would run over and say, "HELP! Our main display just went dead !!"
We'd run over and resurrect it.
TV repairmen to the rescue!

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

I've never been able to go to CES, never knew the right people.   I would love to go sometime.

 

Thanks for posting this Greg, very fun!

 

Kevin 

 

[davey7]

I few years ago I went to the housewares show at McCormick Place - it was really interesting and lots of cool stuff to see, so I can imagine that this would be fun too.

 

[twintubdexter]

Paul,

You were lucky to work for a manufacturer. The department store I bought for, The Emporium in San Francisco, was stuffy. If you are/were a fan of "Are You Being Served?" then you remember the atmosphere of Grace Brothers, full of rules and pomp and circumstance.

 

[combo52]

CES show

Cool Show, Smitty and I are considering going next year, as mentioned you do have to know someone in some aspect of the business to get a pass [ I think we have this covered ].

 

Smitty and I have gone to the Automobile version this show [  SEMA ] four times in the last 8 years, this is also a fantastic show for anyone that likes working on ANYTHING mechanical, the cool tools, painting, finishing ideas are amazing for cars as well as appliances.

 

And since it is open only to people in the trade there are about 10,000 men there that are in generally great shape, you don't tend to get all the obese people that you usually see at car shows bulls...ing  about how I used to have a Corvette like this. Instead you meet a lot of people very driven that are really doing something with their lives.

 

[combo52]

CES show

Cool Show, Smitty and I are considering going next year, as mentioned you do have to know someone in some aspect of the business to get a pass [ I think we have this covered ].

 

Smitty and I have gone to the Automobile version this show [  SEMA ] four times in the last 8 years, this is also a fantastic show for anyone that likes working on ANYTHING mechanical, the cool tools, painting, finishing ideas are amazing for cars as well as appliances.

 

And since it is open only to people in the trade there are about 10,000 men there that are in generally great shape, you don't tend to get all the obese people that you usually see at car shows bulls...ing  about how I used to have a Corvette like this. Instead you meet a lot of people very driven that are really doing something with their lives.