CES 2007: Wil Wheaton’s Experience
Wil Wheaton was at CES this year and has written his evaluation of the show:
It’s strange how two people can encounter the same visual and auditory input and come up with two different experiences. Here is his description of my favorite part of the show:
The best part of CES is the International area, where there are gigantic signs in Engrish that say things like “Digital your new life! Smart Power Saving Socket! Eliminate the energy consumption of the equipments which are off work.†But my absolute favorite, which made me laugh so hard I almost vanished into the land of Wind and Ghosts, is “With the concept of FOUR ASPECTS & EIGHT HARMONY communicate with all over the world by music!†(The bold text is, in fact, in the original.) Seriously. Awesome.
He’s right. The International area is my absolute FAVORITE part of CES, but for me, it’s not about the massacre of my native tongue, although that is entertaining. I am shocked at how innovative and divergent so many companies are. Things that are interesting and unique that might never make it to the U.S. because they lack the ability to jump through our hoops.
Additionally, you get to talk to the inventors of the product instead of marketing drones like you do at the Microsoft and Intel booths. I know engineers aren’t that personable and sometimes they will fall over their words, but I’d rather talk to an inarticulate engineer than an actor. I can ask the engineer questions. The marketing drone will just fake their way through my questions and I hate that most of all. I’d even prefer an engineer who barely speaks English to an eloquent marketing employee.
I love the International area of CES because I have more access to the Steve Wozniaks of the world, not the Steve Balmers.