CES Show Report - Day 1

[Garritan]

Today the largest trade show in the USA, the 2006 International CES technology show got underway in Las Vegas.

Our day started with a meeting with a PC Magazine reporter. He seemed very impressed with GPO, the Jazz and Big Band and Stradivari Violin libraries.

Then a quick tour through South Hall to see the latest. Saw the folks at Creative Labs and EMU. It was good to see ICHi and Chris. The new Prodikeys was nifty - a compact hybrid computer keyboard/music keyboard. Write forum posts and make music on the same keyb oard. Creative also announced a wireless webcam that will connect to any wireless network. Now when the forum becomes video enabled we'll be able to view each other.

I stopped by the Emagin booth. They were showing their new eyebud. It was too crowded to get to try one, but it seems to be one of the hits of the show. The Google booth was extremely popular and packed full of people. They Looked at the new computers at the Dell booth. I stopped by the Nokia booth and saw the new Internet Tablet. Looks like one of these star-trek communicators. Very sweet. Nokia was also showing several new Bluetooth Headsets

Logitech was showing a cordless keyboard designed for Mac. VoIP was very big this year. Skype announced they were teaming up with six new partners to expand VoIP options

Back to meetings. I met with SanDisc and discussed USB delivery and Digital Rights Management.

We then met with Tom White, President and CEO of the MIDI Manufactures Association and we have a very good discussion. We talked bout high-definition MIDI, the future of MIDI and interesting possibilities.

I then met with people from the Chinese Embassy and Chamber of Commerce. There some good opportunities we will be exploring.

One of our forum members Jon Fairhurst, who was exhibiting with Sharp, came by. Jon knows a lot about technology (and he wrote quite a bit of music over the holidays). It was good to see him again and we had a good time talking about the forum.

This was followed by was a meeting with another tech reporter for an Audio magazine. And our last meeting was with a tech writer for CNET. He seemed to know quite a bit about music technology and liked what he heard.

After the show Sarah invited us to the PC Magazine party at the Bellagio. We met some interesting press people and there was a performance by a few members of Cirque de Soleil.

There seems to be format wars going on in the DVD arena between HD-DVD (Microsoft, etc.) and Blu-ray (Sony, Apple, etc.). Camps are being formed and this was evident walking the show.

Convergence seems to again be the theme of the sho w.Lot s of wireless everything, VoIP is very big. Flat panels everywhere. Things that have been discussed for several years are now being actualized in products. Better designs and better prices.

This technopalooza is a bit overwhelming. I think if one spent all four days walking the show it may not be possible to see everything. I’ll post pictures when I return (the internet connection here is quirky). Looking forward to tomorrow at CES.


Gary Garritan

[Michael_uk]

Thanks for this first report Gary. It all sounds fantastic.

[Brian2112]

I then met with people from the Chinese Embassy and Chamber of Commerce. There some good opportunities we will be exploring.

Like moving a billion copies of GPO? Better put your duplicator on danger money baby!:D

...2112 :D

[Michael_uk]

..... Back to meetings. I met with SanDisc and discussed USB delivery and Digital Rights Management.

Gary Garritan

Uhhhhoooh ... 'USB delivery and Digital Rights Management.' = dongles .. right :eek:. I hope this isn't something you are contemplating for GPO. In my opinion I find them repulsive. This is one of the reasons I opted for Finale over Sibelius (in the early days) and is the main reason I am avoiding Cubase and am going for Sonar.

Anyway, hopefully it was just a discussion and no more. Sorry if this is the wrong place and time to dive in with this .. I'm sure the moderators will move the post if this is the case. it's just that it sent alarm bells ringing for me personally.

Looking forward to hearing more about the show.

[Brian2112]

Michael, I wouldn't read anything into it. Gary keeps track of whats going on in the industry. He listens carefully and comes away with lots of usefull information and insight. I think he listens to all concerns...this is a good thing.:)

...2112:)

[Hardy Heern]

Thanks for sharing that Gary; nice to get a feel for the show.

If you pull any sort of deal in China you may well be forced to work only for the enjoyment.....now there's a thought!:)

Frank

[Styxx]

Local news had a report on the show. I figure you would be easy to spot wearing your fedora but no such luck.:D
Have a happy!

[Shazbot]

Local news had a report on the show.

You mean there was time for that between the snow closing reports and the east side shootings? :p

[Styxx]

You mean there was time for that between the snow closing reports and the east side shootings? :p
Yup, it aired right after the segment on how local historical preservationist are upset that the Seneca Indians are building a new casino on the sight where the old "rat" invested, hazardous, dilapidated, out of business for 20 years, dingy, eye sore HO grain elevators are, were. Part of our historical heritage indeed! Like there’s a long line of tourist waiting to see that mess! :D
As for snow ... it's been raining mostly and around 40 degrees except for today. Although, it is to get warmer again and rain by Sunday. A regular tropical paradise! :cool:

[Shazbot]

Yup, it aired right after the segment on how local historical preservationist are upset that the Seneca Indians are building a new casino on the sight where the old "rat" invested, hazardous, dilapidated, out of business for 20 years, dingy, eye sore HO grain elevators are, were. Part of our historical heritage indeed! Like there’s a long line of tourist waiting to see that mess! :D
Heheh. That sounds like Buffalo for ya... Real progress happenin' there! :p

I was just in Bellevue recently, which is sort of a sub-city of Seattle. Now there's a nice lookin' city! If Buffalo could tear down even a small fraction of its old dilapidated buildings and get some new things in there, it would really help a lot. But of course nobody wants to come in there and do business because of the taxes, etc.

I wanted to name the last band I was in Waterfront 3000, in honor of the date when Buffalo might actually do something useful with its waterfront.

Yeah, I miss the people, for sure, but I don't really miss the place much. Can you tell? :p

Anyway, back on subject here... That eyebud thing looks really cool, but I have this image of many people walking around years from now with eyes crossed and glazed over from watching that all the time. Or worse yet, walking around busy city streets while watching that! It would be amusing to watch, but dangerous, and could start a whole new kind of "road rage". "Hey, watch where you're walking! I'm trying to watch Boobah!" :p

[Christopher Duncan]

Uhhhhoooh ... 'USB delivery and Digital Rights Management.' = dongles .. right :eek:. I hope this isn't something you are contemplating for GPO.
You know, they seem to be making USB memory devices that have more and more storage space. Here's a thought...

In the server room downstairs, I have two rack mounted 24 port hubs for the ethernet distribution in my house. I love rack mountable stuff. Nice, tidy, and easily tucked in a corner. My objection to dongles has always been that they bring a nuisance factor but no value. However, it would be great to have a rack mounted USB hub that holds 48 dongles. One cable to the back of my PC.

Why would I want such a thing? Well, what if we reached the point where the USB storage capacity was such that manufacturers could just ship the entire product on the USB, already installed and ready to use? Plug it in, it's recognized by the operating system, and just use it. No more installations that trash the OS. No more conflicts between drivers of various companies. It's all just a self contained gizmo, ready to go.

The thing with software is that it needs to be installed. Ironically, the most evil thing you can do to the stability of your computer is, you guessed it, install software. From a company point of view, the problem with software is the "buy once, copy many" functionality it offers. Some people don't like copy protection because they feel that one purchase should equal multiple installs (actually, Gary gives you two installs right out of the box). However, no one ever complains that they bought a TV or CD player and can't use it in two places at once. It's a gizmo. You want to use it in two buildings, carry it from one to the other. We're comfortable with that.

So why not software? If libraries, programs, etc. could be completely installed and usable in a USB memory device, think of how much hassle that would eliminate from our lives? No CD / DVD ships with the product. You don't have to run an install program to recognize or use the product. It's a toaster. You just plug it into an open port and use it.

I can't count the hours I've wasted dealing with computer problems. This would be a great solution that would also allow companies to stay in business by receiving revenue from everyone who uses their product. I don't have to hassle with a Native Instruments registration, I don't have an extra dongle that brings no value, I don't have to enter challenge / response info or stick the CD back into the drive periodically. I buy the latest and greatest Garritan Sample Gizmo, walk into the server room, plug it into the USB rack, throw the box away, and then go make music.

Think that's too far fetched to be a practical reality? If a visitor from two hundred years ago appeared in your house, he'd be terrified that spirits were somehow trapped in a box in your living room. The fact that you could to a degree control these spirits with your remote would be enough to get you burned at the stake.

So, screw the copy protection dongles, I say! Put the entire product on a USB gizmo, and screw the installation CDs, too! :)

[Shazbot]

So, screw the copy protection dongles, I say! Put the entire product on a USB gizmo, and screw the installation CDs, too! :)

Wow. No doubt! I wouldn't be surprised at all if we see that happening soon.

[Wheat Williams]

Like moving a billion copies of GPO?

No, in China it works like this: You sell ONE copy and suddenly 999,999,999 illegal pirate copies are distributed throughout the country.

[Robert P]

Hey Gary,

Have you stepped to AtomChip booth? (the HD-less laptop claimed to have a couple of terabytes of ram) Do they really exist? Just curious...

R.

[thesoundsmith]

Christopher, whats to stop the would-be pirate from simply copying the fikles from the dongle? While I hate dongles per se, your idea is a sound one - no need to screw up your machines just to get a running app. But updates would be trickier, and throughput at the current state of the art may be too slow to be workable.

Plus, now I get two installs, with the device, only one. I can run my saxes on one machine and my brass on another at the same time (I'd sure like a third install for the rhythm section, but...) With the plug, I'd have to do it all section at a time...

Plus, one of my installs is on a PC, the other on my Mac. Could the dongle support this (twice the internal storage needed...)

Still, it's a conceptually doable concept, I guess, but puts new limitations on the user (what's new...)

Like that old song - "I've got tunes, that dingle dangle dongle..."

[Brian2112]

No, in China it works like this: You sell ONE copy and suddenly 999,999,999 illegal pirate copies are distributed throughout the country.
Not with the new Disco Bagpipes protection scheme!:D