Topic: Recap

January 12, 2007, 4:01 PM

Posted in: The show in-depth

Tim Conneally, BetaNews: As a first-timer at CES, I was naturally overwhelmed by it, but not because of its formidable size or the profusion of vendors, rather because it was just so mazy. The convention center alone required three separate maps to navigate, and only after a few laps around the show floors did they actually prove useful. You stop being lost when you start using landmarks, and you can't help but feel like a Sherpa when you help someone find their way by referring to something as the Pyramid of flat screens or the Ruins of the coffee bar. I'm quite sure, though, that Himalayan mountain men never use the word "kiosk."

This show became less about technology for me and more about lines. The queue for registration was tremendous, the lines for food service were absurd, and don't even ask about the wait for a cab or the shuttle to your hotel. At the Bill Gates keynote, five people would come up to me and ask if Nate's seat was taken every time he went up to take a photograph. Every single time.

• Is the Best-of-Show Judging Really Practical? January 12, 3:56 PM