CES 2012: Weird, Wild, and Totally Out of Control
Amidst the debauchery of Las Vegas, CES had some of the most fun and interesting products and spectacles on display. Here's a look at some of the treasures from CES 2012.
CIO — It's been a long time since my last visit to CES and Las Vegas in general, a long time since I walked down the strip to Sin City, and pounded the concrete pavement of what is now the world's largest consumer electronics show. And I can tell you, in the 10 years since I have been here, Vegas has changed faster than Joan Rivers face has in over 10 decades.
Slideshow: Cool Products from CES
2012
Slideshow: The Best of CES
2012
Slideshow: Videos from CES
It struck me about half-way through my second day at CES, that the show was the perfect microcosm for what I saw in Las Vegas in general, which was a situation of completely uncontrolled and never ending corporate sprawl and overcrowding, with no foreseeable plan or future vision of maintainability and maturation. Here was the ultimate paradigm of consumerism run amok, running headlong into an unsustainable future of perpetual growth.
As I walked down the Vegas strip my first few days, I was stunned to see the sprawl that Las Vegas had become. I had already been witness to the new infusion of corporate resorts during the 90s, but what I saw now was casinos and towers packed into every conceivable angle and direction.
Lost in a wilderness of endless casino mazes I wandered like a meandering Bedouin desperate for an oasis of sanity and calm. Passing through gauntlets of pushers clicking and shoving cards for escorts and strip clubs in my face, I dodged and weaved my way to a safe harbor and a cold Margarita in front of... was this the Caesar's Palace I used to know so well? The old roadside attractions of the Mirage Volcano and the Treasure Island Pirate Ships were hard to find and hidden by growth, and barely functioning.
Slideshow: Celebrity Sightings at CES 2012
For us old timers, Vegas was always a destination of fun and cost-efficient debauchery. Cheap buffets and free drinks were plentiful; all intended to ply the weary traveler from his hard earned dollars at various gambling tables and slot machines. But those days are long gone, watered down drinks now cost $12 a piece, and customer service and perks for the common Joe are practically non-existent.
I stayed at a top resort hotel, and sadly received some of the worst customer service I have at any level hotel I have stayed at in the world. After 4 days there, a Motel 6 would have been a warm reminder of decency and professionalism. Maids didn't bother to clean rooms, room keys didn't open locked doors, valets seemed to be aiming for pedestrians, and breakfast buffets now went for $25 dollars a head.
The Vegas I remembered and enjoyed in my younger days was long gone, in its place was a churning factory of human consumption, its jaws of greed waiting for unsuspecting travelers and suckers thinking this was anything but a place of abject greed and hucksterism.
