CES charges a bundle for display space;
the rival T.H.E. Show offers an alternative.
No such thing as a free lunch? Promoters of T.H.E Show prove
that
adage wrong with a complimentary BBQ buffet each day. Not
surprisingly, it was the best attended "exhibit" at the T.H.E.
Show.
Walking down one of the hallways I noticed a fellow exiting a
suite with some tasty munchies in hand (exhibitors often have candy
and the like for visitors), so I popped into the, um, Pioneer
room. Two tables displayed a range of tempting treats. I'll just grab a couple of these and be on my way before
I'm seen. Through my
crunching I was surprised to hear some pretty good sound. So I
downed my last pretzel and took a seat in front of their
really cool speakers. After a few minutes of enjoyable
entertainment I asked
the congenial Pioneer representative about the speakers. He
launched into a detailed explanation of the drivers, telling me about this 4" midrange and that 1" tweeter,
and so on. I said no, I want to know about the speaker
system, not the drivers. He looked a bit puzzled and then
said, "oh, the speaker cabinets are just something our
engineers put together to showcase our automobile speakers."
WHAT, these were CAR speakers!? Yep, and hold on to
your hats, they were being driven by a car amplifier and an
in dash CD player... I swear!
CES provides shuttles between the various venues, all of them
sported these "Big Brother is Watching You" signs.
Kinda creepy. I guess
they expected a lot of trouble from show goers (especially the
high end crowd!).
On one of the many occasions I got lost in the Venetian, I
found myself at the Sands Hotel (the Sands and Venetian are
connected), in an exhibit area labeled Robotics Tech Zone.
Can't pass that up!
The exhibits ranged from awe-inspiring to entertaining to down
right ridiculous (I'm sure you can guess which ones attracted
me).
One of my favorites was the animatronic Elvis. I kid you not!
Elvis will sing to you, tell you stories about his life and
he'll even share his microphone so you can karaoke with the
King. I was hoping for life size, but what do you want for
$2K. And you thought cables prices were ridiculous!
Making my trip to Las Vegas worthwhile was discovering Mobile
Protection by
Skins Mobile. These handy,
um, phone condoms protect your mobile device from the
elements. I'm not joking, this is a real product! To prove it,
they had a "spokesperson" in a hot tub who would slip one on
for you.
I brought a sample home to wife, she didn't think it was
the least bit funny. "So, this is what you do in Vegas!" I may
not get to go next year, guys.
Only in Las Vegas!
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