What to “consume” at CES 2011

The last couple weeks I talked about the 3 main themes of CES this coming January:

• Content Wherever we want
• Content Whenever we want
• Content However we want

It has been all about content consumption, for the most part.  I have not touched on any technologies or innovation around content creation. Maybe that’s because much of the buzz around CES this year is all about content consumption.  After all, we are “consumers” and this is a Consumer Electronics Show.

Apparently, Randy Fry, the president and co-founder of Fry’s Electronics Inc agrees.  In a recent interview with the Consumer Electronics Association, Fry said in the interview, “The consumer-electronics industry continues to deliver to our consumers: What they want, when they want it, where they want it and on the device of their immediate choice.”  The hot technologies this year according to Fry:

• Smartphones and tablets enabled by 4G technology
• 3D television will gain significant momentum next year as Blu-ray and television content becomes more readily available.
• Internet TV will make great strides as browsers, Internet TV boxes and network digital storage devices compete for this “ready to go” market.
• The Cloud being driven by tablet devices in favor of traditional notebooks

All of the above are all about consumption, with the exception of 4G and the Cloud which are more about the delivery mechanism that enables consumption.  Nothing about content creation, but if you read between the lines, with all of this consumption going on, there’s bound to be a heck of a lot of creation to go with it. I guess we’ll have to head to NAB next year to see more of that side of the story.

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What to CEA readers predict?  Recent surveys indicate:

• 46.42% predict the Tablet will be the must-have CE technology for 2011
• 19.89% predict it will be a streaming content box of some sort
• 48.48% predict that multiple devices will be used to appease consumers’ appetite for TV programming
• 21.21% believe traditional TV will continue to rule with viewers

When asked, “What do you think is the primary reason for consumers to connect their CE devices (non-computer) to the internet?”

• 41.47% said to increase the likelihood of finding the exact content they were looking for
• 20.74% said to get rid of the box and wires in their living room
• 18.89% said it’s a cheaper alternative to over-the-top content

Maybe the trends for CES point to Easier to find, Cleaner to access, and Cheaper to consume.

Related Posts:

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Storage is a 24×7 content drive thru…so “have it your way”
Another CES trend: content “wherever we want”
We want our content and we want it now (however we want)