CES 2012 preview: hardware is (almost) Dead
Phil Lelyveld
Entertainment Technology Center
[ZDNet]
…I expect this year’s show to be one of the worst years in recent memory for new products.
It’s not that manufacturers aren’t trying; it’s just that hardware innovation has taken a backseat to software (and software-as-a-service). Make no mistake, there will be newer, thinner, brighter televisions; higher-powered laptops and digital cameras; and more accessory announcements than you can shake a stick at. But that’s not really where the action is.
The real action can be found around the interoperability of these products.
Mobile phones, e-readers, 3D home theater, netbooks, even Kinect — those were the major themes of years past. There seems to be no clear winners this year. Arguably, the newest, most interesting stuff will not be pocketable but drivable — a digital makeover for a two-ton gadget that’s been around since 1885 or so, and happens to have a concurrent industry tradeshow in Detroit.
… Increasingly, the biggest tech companies — Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google and soon Microsoft — have nothing to say at CES after the Q4 holiday blitz. …
Read the full story here: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/ces-2012-preview-hardware-is-almost-dead/66095
