Imagine 150,000 people from 140 countries wandering 1.6 million square feet of exhibit space in search of the latest whiz-bang flat-screen TV, tablet, smartphone or souped-up teched-out car. This is the International CES show in Las Vegas, which has mushroomed from 17,500 attendees in 1967 to the massive techno-hordes of today. This could be either your most incredible dream or a nightmare waiting to happen. Often, for tech journalists and bloggers, it ends up being both. So what’s your take on CES? Have you attended and enjoyed what you experienced? Is it your idea of the 7th level of Hades? Vote in our poll (where you can choose multiple answers) and explain more in the comments below.
To hear more about CES, check out the latest edition of the Mediatwits podcast, with two tech journalists reporting from the conference floor.
P.S. From the CES website:
Products that Debuted at CES
Videocassette Recorder (VCR), 1970
Laserdisc Player, 1974
Camcorder, 1981
Compact Disc Player, 1981
Digital Audio Technology, 1990
Compact Disc – Interactive, 1991
Mini Disc, 1993
Radio Data System, 1993
Digital Satellite System, 1994
Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), 1996
High Definition Television (HDTV), 1998 Hard-disc VCR (PVR), 1999
Digital Audio Radio (DAR), 2000
Microsoft Xbox, 2001
Plasma TV, 2001
Home Media Server, 2002
HD Radio, 2003
Blu-Ray DVD, 2003
HDTV PVR, 2003
HD Radio, 2004
IP TV, 2005
An explosion of digital content services, 2006
New convergence of content and technology, 2007
OLED TV, 2008
3D HDTV, 2009
Tablets, Netbooks and Android Devices, 2010
Connected TV, Smart Appliances, Android Honeycomb, Ford’s Electric Focus, Motorola Atrix, Microsoft Avatar Kinect, 2011