Consumers Need To Know

Sometimes you go on a trip and find people and places that surprise you. On my last trip I did meet many interesting people and that did not surprise me. I have been around television and broadcasting for a long time and have always known what the CEA(Consumer Electronic Association) was and have been to their big show in Las Vegas a couple of times. I had never associated the group with a physical location or a building with the name on the top. When I discovered that they had the building next to the hotel I was using, it made sense. I suspect that a major part of any national organization of that type is to lobby the members of the national government. So their being located in Crystal City, Virginia was not a surprise. I was trying to get away from thoughts of work so I did not go in to visit. It shows that no matter how you want to get away from it all, some of it will follow you. I know that the people at the CEA would have been nice if I had taken the time to say hello but I had things that I wanted to do and those things were definitely not thinking about television sets. Yes I will talk about the part of broadcasting that I did see. The difference is that when I did deal with broadcasting it was with the actual broadcasting and more about getting the message out and not what you see it on. The show that they sponsor is fun and I keep saying that I will go back soon. Not just because it is in Las Vegas in January but because it is the place to see the future of an industry that is in constant flux. Today what we see in stores is not anything near what we will see in the future. The LCD screen that is now the predominant screen will phase out as the LED version becomes more prominent. The emphasize will be on energy consumption and the physical size of the unit. Using less electricity and being thinner will make them more popular with consumers. I know many people will love them because they are the new thing and not because they are more ecology sensitive. Go to a store and stand in front of a wall of LCD sets and you will feel how much power is being wasted. All of the extra energy is turned into heat and at home that is nice in winter, but if you are running air conditioning you know your bill is higher. Well, all of this is why a group like the CEA plays a part in making the case to the federal bureaucracy for those who sell electronics and gives those of us who deal with the industry, a place to see what is coming hopefully before we need to sell it.