- Remember always, House
Strickland's family motto:
CES is coming.
(guitar music)
CES, also known as the
Consumer Electronic Show
is an enormous conference
that gathers together
manufacturers, retailers,
industry analysts, and press
to show off gadgets coming
to stores in the near future,
and technology is being
developed by some of
the world's biggest companies.
In 2015, it covered
2.2 million square feet
in various convention halls and
hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada.
More than 170,000 people attended,
and more than 3,600
companies had exhibits,
showing off their products.
It's huge, but it didn't
start out that way.
Before CES, there was
the Chicago Music Show,
which had become a place
to see new technology.
It made sense to spin off the tech stuff
to a new conference
dedicated for that purpose.
The first CES was held
in New York City in 1967.
There were only 14 exhibitors
and only 100,000 square
feet of exhibit space.
But, it was a success and the
show grew, year over year.
It got so big that for almost two decades,
there were two CES shows per year:
one in the winter and one in summer.
Las Vegas hosted the winter event,
and Chicago, the summer.
Eventually, the summer show
outlived its usefulness,
and now only the winter event remains.
Lots of famous devices
made their debut at CES:
the VCR, the CD player, the DVD,
the Xbox, and Blu-Ray have all gotten
the red carpet treatment over the years.
It's also where we saw HD
DVD fade into the void.
Rest in peace, HD DVD.
Overseeing CES is the Consumer
Technology Association,
formerly, the Consumer
Electronics Association, formerly,
the Consumer Electronics
Manufacturers Association,
formerly, the Electronics
Industries Association,
formerly, Radio Manufacturers Association,
but, what's in a name.
Actually those names give
you a quick look at how
electronics have evolved since 1924,
when the Radio Manufacturers
Associate first organized.
The reason for the most recent change
is that the word
electronics is too narrow.
It's all about technology now.
At CES you'll still find
traditional electronics,
like radios and televisions.
But, other exhibitors
include car manufacturers,
like Ford and Toyota, which
goes a bit beyond electronics.
And then there are companies that
develop wireless transmission
technologies like Zigbees
or the additive manufacturing
3D printer companies.
The world has grow to
large for a word as small
as electronics.
What will the 2016 show hold?
Well, we are going to
find out for ourselves.
Makes sure check back
at now.howstuffworks.com
to see our coverage of CES.
And don't forget we cover
everything else at Now too.
So whether you're into
robots or ridiculous history
you need to visit now.howstuffworks.com.
(chime)
