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Some CES Thoughts (From Other People)
CES wrapped up on Friday of last week and sadly I was unable to attend… and definitely not because I am perma-banned due to an unfortunate incident in 2017 involving my Aunt Joan and a rental car and a few of those tall Vegas drinks!
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If you - like me - were unable to attend this year’s CES, I have curated a few of my favorite writers who DID attend and who have important insights to share beyond just gape-mouthed PR regurgitation!
The Verge had an excellent general writeup.
The always-great Janko Roettgers took a look at some of the new TVs manufacturers previewed at CES. No surprise that they are absolutely riddled with… AI! Check out his full summary at the link above and be sure to subscribe to his newsletter if you haven’t done so already!
Yahoo! Tech has an interesting piece on the new AR smart glasses from Xreal. As I’ve previously written, I think the future for AR/VR wearables will absolutely be items like glasses rather than Apple Vision Pro-style headsets. What will also be determinative is if the AR/VR space actually provides an experience that differs from your phone or television. Ben Thompson provides the perfect example via the example of Apple’s sports content produced for the AVP:
Here’s the thing that you don’t seem to get, Apple: the entire reason why the Vision Pro is compelling is because it is not a 2D screen in my living room; it’s an immersive experience I wear on my head. That means that all of the lessons of TV sports production are immaterial. In fact, it’s worse than that: insisting on all of the trappings of a traditional sports broadcast has two big problems: first, because it is costly, it means that less content is available than might be otherwise. And second, it makes the experience significantly worse.
This has been a fundamental problem with the way Apple approached content for the Vision Pro, trying to retrofit traditional entertainment options to it instead of creating a new language for it. As I’ve written previously:
Based on its initial release, clearly Apple was gambling on immersive entertainment being the AVP’s killer app. Wouldn’t it be cool to put on a heavy, clunky headset to watch The Mandalorian projected in a distracting Star Wars-themed environment instead of sitting on your comfortable couch in front of a big TV? Wait, it wouldn’t? Uh-oh!
Last but not least is Ed Zitron’s informative and frequently-hilarious 9 episode-long coverage of CES for his podcast Better Offline:
Any Details??? Apple TV Edition
Here is a recent Deadline article headline: “Apple TV Viewing Jumped 36% In December To New Record, SVP Of Services Eddy Cue Says; ‘Pluribus’ Is Its “Biggest Series To Date”
Wow! Sounds great! Let’s read more:
As is typical for Apple, Cue’s overview leaned on superlatives and relative comparisons but lacked hard data. It also wasn’t clear how the company calculates engagement, or the exact size of the audience that grew. Since launching the service in November 2019, Apple has declined to break out subscriber numbers or viewership figures.
I know we’ve all got newshole to fill, but the way the industry press allows the tech companies to make claims like this without any data is an ongoing problem across so much of the business.
Say what you will about reporting box office numbers or Nielsen ratings, but at least these are somewhat-independent, measurable metrics. They can be sliced and diced and spun, but it is actual data against which we can evaluate claims.
Continuing to allow tech to be opaque about their numbers and writing up their PR releases as fact is a disservice to the rest of the business, particularly the talent they hire to produce their content and, in the case of AVOD or FAST channel platforms, the advertisers who purchase ad time.
It is well past time to approach these companies with the skepticism they deserve.
Kernels (3 links worth making popcorn for)
Here’s a round-up of cool and interesting links about Hollywood and technology:
IMAX and Cinemark look to expand IMAX screens nationwide. (link)
How an animated Hamlet adaptation challenges the rules of perception. (link)
Pinterest users have had it with AI slop. (link)