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That's Janky: CES 2007 Edition

Posted on January 22, 2007 by Jeremy Toeman

When I first started LIVEdigitally, a good friend suggested I include the category “That’s Janky” for all the stuff that was a little goofy or poorly designed. As a refresh, here’s a definition from the good ol’ Urban Dictionary:

(adjective) inferior quality; held in low social regard; old and delapidated; refers almost exclusively to inanimate material objects, not to people

We tried to pick up on these girls waiting for the bus, but I was driving my sister’s janky 1989 geo metro so we just got clowned instead.

Still cracks me up. Anyhow, I thought it would be a fun idea to put just a single post with all the pictures I took at CES 2007 that I felt fit into the Janky category.

IMG_2300 line for unveiled

Too many lines – lines for the Bill Gates keynote, CES Unveiled, press conferences, etc.

IMG_2542 sandisk giveaway frenzy

After the DirecTV press conference, Dave Winer and I stumbled upon this Sandisk Sansa giveaway where the crowd nearly mobbed the table, and I had one literally pulled out of my hands!

IMG_2552 hivi

Has anyone told this company how bad their name is?  I mean, it’s certainly a step up from their old name, SARS Electronics…

IMG_2579 thedreammachine

The Dream Machine and other weird gaming furniture – it’s neat and all, but who is going to put this thing in their homes?

 IMG_2580 tv games

I love the TVGames products, but Deal or No Deal: The Video Game?  It might as well just ship with a drool guard for anyone who follows the intensity of the show.

 IMG_2690 futiro skype non-wireless phone

Well-designed gadget? Yes.
Skype phone. Cool.
Wired??? Janky!

 IMG_2696 FVD format

We’ve covered this one before. 

 IMG_2697 Pierre Cardin GPS unit

Chinese manufacturers who yoink reputable brands to try to sell their wares, and…

 IMG_2698 Chinese GPS OEM company

Chinese manufacturers whose booths feature hand-written posters, and…

 IMG_2700 gooten or guten

Chinese manufacturers who can’t spell their own name consistently (if you can’t read, it says Guten and Gooten)! 

 IMG_2711 bad booth design

Booth designs that look great in the 3D rendering, but nobody takes the time to make a real sample to test the concept.

 IMG_2775 alcohol tester mp3 player

Ridiculous convergence gadgets.  Although you could market this one to the law enforcement community, that way they can listen to their jams while they arrest people. 

 IMG_2792 accufat

Er.  No comment.

 IMG_2791 lg booth

Traditional consumer electronics manufacturers who overspend on their ridiculously large booths.  Earth to Sony, LG, Panasonic, Pioneer, and everyone else: this is not 1992, your tactics must change.

No picture to show, but a special mention to the CES Web site for not making it abundantly clear to people how registration worked and that non-trade individuals would not be allowed in. 

There you have it, the CES 2007 Janky Report!

Actually, I’m adding one more: to the organizers of the one and only press/media event (which I shall leave nameless) who decided I wasn’t welcome because I am not a full-time member of the media. Yet the same organizers let in over a dozen bloggers that I know personally, none of which are full-time bloggers/members of the media.  If anyone who works for that event has taken a moment for CES coverage follow-up, I hope you note how much more CES coverage I had than most of the bloggers you let in, and maybe you’ll do more than a cursory check on everyone’s backgrounds in the future.  You win my personal “Most Janky” award.

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Posted in That's Janky | 2 Comments
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2 thoughts on “That's Janky: CES 2007 Edition”

  1. Ed Kohler says:
    January 23, 2007 at 12:42 pm

    Great round-up. I’d add booth designs with circular islands, like Sony uses. They cause tons of bottlenecks and it gets even more ridiculous when press members try slipping past each other with their backpacks on.

    Reply
  2. Chief Gizmateer says:
    January 27, 2007 at 12:18 pm

    Hey… we had a lot of CES coverage and have more still to post! “Hate the game not the player!” – I heard that somewhere but am not quite hip enough to know if that applies to this… 🙂

    Anyway, I wanted to add the darn press bags as being janky! Rather than giving out a press bag, how about handing out a 1GB flash drive with all the press material in digital format. For one you save those things with bark and leaves and for two I won’t get constantly knocked by press people not realizing they’ve just added an extra two feet of clearance to their back (or even worse the press bags from last year which caused more than a couple people to trip). I bet CEA gives awards to the worst design for press bags.

    Reply

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Jeremy Toeman is a seasoned Product leader with over 20 years experience in the convergence of digital media, mobile entertainment, social entertainment, smart TV and consumer technology. Prior ventures and projects include CNET, Viggle/Dijit/Nextguide, Sling Media, VUDU, Clicker, DivX, Rovi, Mediabolic, Boxee, and many other consumer technology companies. This blog represents his personal opinion and outlook on things.

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