Written By: Missy Grote
Date: November 27, 2002 (Previously Published)
Section: Viewpoints

Comdex: 23rd year and still ticking? Come along with me as I travel the Comdex floors and share with you what oohed and ahhhed me throughout the week. I heard the reports before I even left that this year's Comdex convention was not going to be anywhere near record-breaking... and they were correct! Comdex, the world's largest technology marketplace, was definitely scaled back this year with a huge drop in companies exhibiting their wares. Key3Media, the show's organizer reported a mere 100,000 in attendance. You don't have to travel to the Sands Convention Center or anywhere else as all the exhibits are under one roof at the Las Vegas Convention enter. Even the program guide got a face lift; a mere 376 pages, much smaller than years past. Please don't take this as a negative... This was the first year where I didn't have to stand in an unending line to get my pre-registered pass. I walked right into the tent and was 2nd in line. I wasn't overwhelmed about hitting it all. Shuttle bus lines moved, bathroom stalls weren't always filled, and at the end of the day my feet weren't hurting. In a nutshell, Comdex was very manageable!

Now, on with the keynote. But first, I must expose a side to myself not many relate to. The mere admission is like putting on a nerd hat and saying "I'm proud of it" But, here goes: I love Bill Gates! His nerdiness is a turn on and I am one that actually finds his jokes funny. Not only that... he is inspiring to listen to! Whenever I have listened to him speak before I go away feeling that no matter what he said, technology is for me! With that being said, Bill Gate's speech was deemed another success by me. He spoke of us being in the digital decade, in which he envisions technology chips will invade such mundane household objects as alarm clocks, key chains, and refrigerator magnets. He also plugged Microsoft's newest Office companion, OneNote, which won't debut till mid 2003. OneNote is designed to be your electronic notepad, an organization tool for all your thoughts, URLs, and notes. It sounds promising being able to track text, html, audio, video, and hand-written notes.

Gates predicated a bright future ahead, with technology being more 'digitally smart' and powerful with prices dropping, more portable and accessible to all. With that bright news, how could one not be inspired. :)

My next big oooooh came when I saw a Segway being displayed right outside the press room. As soon as I saw the highly sophisticated scooter I walked right over. (ok, a slight jog) I previously had only seen the device on television and now i know why David Letterman was salivating so much... he really did want to ride it! Seeing the Segway in action was both beautiful and captivating. I also knew that watching the Segway any longer would get me in trouble, for any longer and I would have had to explain to my husband that I just got placed a long back-ordered list for a $5000 highly sophisticated, toy. Oh yeah, and one toy that I would have had a hard time sharing.

While out on the exhibit floor I found myself gravitating to booths that promised me more productively with my digital media. One product that did just that was 3D-Album (www.3d-album.com). If all goes well, I'll soon be able to create 3d photo shows that can include music, text, and voiceover in a really cool 3d format. Not only that, but I will easily be able to share my creations via email, webpage, or cd. No more boring slide shows. Now if I can get something together by Thanksgiving to show the relatives I will call it a success!

I also stopped by to see Serious Magic show off their Visual Communicator. I was quite impressed how you can make a video presentation in minutes, without it taking on a home-made look. I loved the built-in teleprompter which helps you to create a commercial-like video presentation. Of course, ease of use and sharing capabilities made this one of my top technology finds to add to my Christmas wish list. I can just see me now emailing my daughter her very own "To-do list' in this cool video format. She might even hurry to finish the tasks so she can be the star of her own blue screen video letting me know all her chores are complete.

My week was still not complete without going to a few educational seminars. I sat in the conference entitled, "Digital Pics: How Imaging and Video Enhances the Digital Lifestyle." The panel spoke of old restraints being lifted for the digital camera user while also spoke of future challenges. No longer will we be searching through photo albums and shoeboxes to try to find memorable pictures. Instead we will need to have programs that will automatically classify our lifetime of digital pictures so that retrieval is easy. I'm currently searching for a program that can do just that, and i've only being digital for the past 2 years. Developers will also need to strive to shorten the time from snap to send, making digital photography much more instant than film cameras. Software programs will need to make it easy to distribute collections of photos, which can be a burden now if you send pictures one at a time via email. As an avid digital camera user, I was enthusiastic about the future of digital photography. Despite the useful panel discussion, the best information I walked away with was in response to the last question from an audience member. The lady was inquiring about whether color standards were on the way so that a picture would look the same regardless of what photo editor, monitor, or printer was being used. Even though color standards are a few years off, he did speak of ICC or color calibration. With some minor tweaking the home user can have the same color printed out as it appears on-screen. Wow! I definitely have to look into this further when I get home.

Comdex IS still ticking and kicking! Like I said earlier, Comdex was very manageable this year... especially on Thursday and Friday. You could literally walk through the aisles and not bump into anyone!

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