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JEWS IN THE DIGITAL AGE
An Entirely New CES Experience
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fter a decade of attending the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, I was beginning to think I had seen it all and there really was not anything new for me. I was certainly wrong. Last year’s CES was entirely virtual and, quite frankly, the Consumer Rabbi Jason Technology Association Miller Contributing (CTA) was not ready to Writer make one of the world’s largest trade shows a virtual experience. It just was not the same. I admit I was surprised when it was decided that this year’s CES would take place in person because the Omicron variant of COVID was spiking at the end of last year. Despite the international health risk, Gary Shapiro, a Franklin resident who is president and CEO of CTA (the owner and producer of CES), was determined to have a live show
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once again. I made the decision (which my wife told me to make!) to not attend CES in person this year, but to participate digitally from the comfort and safety of my office. The fact that I was not there in person did not matter — this was one of Sony A95K QD-OLED 4K TV
the best shows in the past several years, and CTA allowed people to participate digitally through the end of January. There were thousands of product debuts that made news and, even with the pandemic, more than 2,300 companies from around the globe exhibited. The Omicron variant did not keep the 800 startup companies from traveling to Vegas to launch their innovative products. Highlights of the weeklong industry tradeshow included eye-opening new technology in the automotive space, as well as in the digital health and smart home arenas. There were more than
