What constitutes a tech “gadget” anymore?
In the past, a gadget was more often than not, something you held in your hand. A product that provided a cool solution for content creation, communication, gaming, entertainment, etc. CES has proven this year, and over the past couple years that the true definition of the term gadget is evolving.
Today, nearly every aspect of our lives has become “gadgetized”. Just look at the products on the floor at CES, and each year you see age old household items morphing into tech gadgets. Yesterday, I walked the floor at CES, I saw…
- Cars that basically learn everything about us.
- Refrigerators that know when we are low on milk.
- Thermostats that learn on their own.
- Healthcare tools that can take our blood pressure on a mobile device.
On a post from last year, I shared this infographic that showed how the number of connected devices will grow to 50 Billion by 2020. This is evident if you spend just a little time on the CES floor. Yet, there is one thread that ties all of these “gadgets” together.
Data.
Whether it’s your car, refrigerator, blood pressure, or thermostat, you and it is creating data, and that data needs to be stored locally on the device, on a home server, or most likely in the cloud. As we “gadgetize” more and more products, the more an more data storage we are going to need. So, if you asked me if there are any cool storage devices to see at CES…I would have to say.
Yes, you should see…everything.
Can you think of a product that has yet to be gadgetized?
Even more from CES.
No comment on products yet to be gadgetized (there are too many to mention), but it sounds like you’re in the right business: “Yet, there is one thread that ties all of these “gadgets” together. Data.” 😉