Making the Best of Things
One year ago this time, the world was 10 months into its pandemic slog, and still no vaccine to make any form of mass human gathering possible. CES 2021 wasn’t exactly canceled; it became a fully online event.
And a pretty decent online event at that.
But last year’s online-only ‘show’—somehow show seems the wrong label here—couldn’t hold a candle to any recent in-person CES against which it would naturally be compared. CES 2021 was an ample catalogue of pre-produced keynote speeches, time-shifted presentations without an audience present, and a valiant attempt at giving exposure to thousands of smaller vendors. But in the context of available delivery formats in 2021, discoverability of those companies was difficult at best, and just plain awful a lot of the time.
One couldn’t help but imagine in the mind’s eye the real-world delight of turning a corner and seeing another row of makers, enthusiastically trying to catch your attention and talk up their latest gizmo or gadget--for some of them, their life’s work or passion project. That same anticipation doesn’t translate well to a long, cold roster of vendor names each with a clickable link.
It’s tragic irony that what a reimagined CES 2021 really needed was a robust, production-ready metaverse to prove out the full expression of its concept.
Hold on, you say. There are already thriving virtual environments if you look for them. There was Second Life, which sought to do something conceptually similar, and today the popularity of Minecraft and later Roblox proves that there is an audience--ready, willing and able--to consume digitally-delivered content in a radically different way. I’ll stipulate to all of this, Counselor.
But is Grandpa Larry going to strap up his Oculus to take a tour of a virtual storefront in the metaverse? No, no he won’t. Not unless that content is being simulcast on his home TV on CNN or QVC.
That’s metaverse shorthand for, it’s early days, friends. Early. Days.
With Las Vegas top of mind, the ‘young Elvis’/’old Elvis’ postage stamp debate comes into view. What’s that you say? Not familiar with this crucial social moment of the late 20th Century? No problem: here’s the thumbnail for those who may find it helpful for context.
In the early 1990s, the US Postal Service was in the midst of a promotional collectable postage stamp campaign, and decided on several rock-and-roll greats to celebrate. Selection of the artwork that would be transformed into each collectable stamp was straight-forward until it came to Elvis Presley’s stamp. There were two different depictions for the USPS to choose from: a youthful 1950s-era Elvis in his prime, or an older Elvis reminiscent of his early 1970s Las Vegas-jumpsuited shows-in-residence. Both showed the performer, but choosing just one was hard for the Postal Service to do, so the USPS put it to a national vote, and the younger Elvis stamp prevailed. (And yes, it became a thing for people to send mail using the Elvis stamp to a fictitious address with the expectation of it being sent back with, yes, a Return to Sender rubber stamp. I can’t make this up.)
The point is simply this: revealing the full promise of the metaverse requires that its reach be matched by its approachability and simplicity in use. And we are a long, long way from Grandpa Larry jumping into his metaverse Taco Bell for a metaverse Chicken Soft Taco. When you figure out how to make that work at scale, you get to be the next Mark Zuckerburg.
In the meantime, we will find some inspiration from the King himself. With respect to the metaverse, it’s time for “a little less conversation, a little more action, please.” Time to get to work.
