Top Ten Things I Hate About CES
Let me start by saying I feel very fortunate to get to go to a trade show all about gadgets, technology and consumer electronics. Every year I look forward to the chance to fall in love with some new toy, discover a new invention, or envision the future of technology.
That said, it's no picnic. For all of you who wish you were running around with the who's who of consumer electronics, and playing with everything you can get your hands on, this post is intended to make you feel better about what you missed.
1) Connectivity and coverage remains absymal and seems to get worse each year, despite advances in wireless technology. Making and receiving calls is nearly impossible when 125,000 geeks descend on Las Vegas. Forget about surfing the web or tweeting from a keynote. In fact, the event asked attendees of the Microsoft keynote to "please turn off your wireless radios so as not to interfere with the demonstration on stage."
2) Cab lines are the bane of a a CES-goer's existence. They have been a problem at the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Las Vegas hotels since Comdex days. The city built a monorail system, but the lines for that are equally painful. And the shuttle bus lines? They're a couple of football fields long, as well.
3) Everything in Vegas is further away than it appears. Most folks' natural tendency is to start hoofing it around the city after seeing the lines. A glance at Google maps on your phone will only encourage you to take to the sidewalks, because the Hilton at the Convention Center looks like it is only two blocks from the Strip. They just happen to be half mile long blocks.
4) Every year during CES, the adult entertainment industry holds its annual exposition. While a very "colorful" crowd mingling with tech nerds is very interesting to watch, the Adult Entertainment Expo introduces more traffic, more long lines and more than its share of 'tude into the mix.
5) There is no quiet place to make a call if you can make a connection, because every place there is a slot machine dinging, a billboard blaring, music pounding or a volcano exploding. Even on the 51st floor of my hotel, I couldn't escape the constant bass coming from the speakers at the pool bar below...at 3 AM.
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