Spent a couple of interesting days at CES. Not surprisingly, green messages were everywhere. The Wall St. Journal provided a quick round up of some of the green initiatives in an article from CES on Monday as well as in a video. From what I saw, most of the initiatives could be lumped into these broad areas:
* Recycling: Panasonic announced a JV of CE manufacturers that will
recycle old CE equipment (called e-cycling).
* Re-engineering: Panasonic spoke about their efforts to
engineer-out all of the environmentally harmful materials in their
products over the coming years noting they were the first to
eliminate lead from their TV’s. Along these lines, Fujitsu
announced a laptop with a body that’s made from biodegradable corn
oil rather than petroleum.
* Reducing power: Panasonic also spoke about their goal to make the
majority of their products Energy Star compliant dramatically
reducing the amount of energy each of their products consume. As
one example, they introduce an update line of Viera plasma’s that
would have twice the luminance yet consume half the power of
current models.
* Carbon Offsets: The organizers of CES, the CEA (Consumer
Electronics Association), announced that they would be buying
offsets to compensate for the carbon emissions generated by the
event. I will not address the relative efficacy of offsets but
simply offer it as one more example of the pervasiveness of green
messaging at the show.
All that said, CES is about the latest and greatest gear. The fact that some of this gear is greener may influence 12% of potential buyers according to a recent Forrester study. The other 88% simply want cool stuff and lots of that was on display too. The Panasonic 150″ plasma TV was indeed the 800 pound gorilla in the room measuring 11″ wide by 6″ tall blowing away the competition on size and clarity. Sony impressed on both the hardware (a paper thin 11″ LCD monitor) and software (lots of live talent from their movie, TV and music divisions) fronts. For a more comprehensive look at the cool stuff, check out:
*GIZMO CHALLENGE:* During Panasonic’s Keynote address (which was amazing by the way–more on that later), Panasonic and Comcast announced a new kind of set-top box that combined a cable DVR and a portable DVD player. Basically you record your shows on the harddrive of the DVR and then you can detach the DVR and watch the shows wherever you want on a small screen that folds up from the DVR. Very cool concept. Made me wonder what other product combinations clever people might conceive. So here’s the challenge, come up with the cleverest combo gizmo and I’ll send you a pair of very cool retro Panasonic headphones. For example, why not combine a bathroom door and a Kindle to create a “Koilet” so you can read the headlines of the New York Times hands free and without wasting paper. Or perhaps combine a computer and a George Foreman grill to add some tasty nuggets to your next PowerPoint presentation. So mix and match. See what you can cook up. You have until [EXTENDED TO] April Fools Day, 2008 to dream up something amazing. An expert panel of judges will be nowhere near this context. Just me. Good luck.
I would combine a Blackberry and a Krups espresso machine. With all the work I can get done and useless emails I now feel compelled to respond to, I will need an eye-opening drink to keep me going.
I would put my portable sudoku player in my Nike watch. Hopefully, Nike would collaborate and I could beam the information to a website that would track my games played, chart my best times and compare with other people. It’s kind of a mix between the 80’s calculator watch and Nike plus.
I would combine my coffee thermos and my mp3 player. This way I can plug right in and avoid a balancing act on the subway.
Coffee + Clapton = a happier Commute
FROM LINSEY TULLY:
I want a laptop connected to my exercise bike, so that I can work while biking, and fuel the laptop at the same time. I’m positive someone has already manufactured this product, but thought I’d send it in anyway.
And, my other idea is a hair dryer that has speakers for your TV while drying your hair. Believe me when I say I would use it. I’d call it the “Double hot air blower” (get it?) Especially appropriately named during this very long political season.