Is it Friday yet?

Last week was a blur, weeding through thousands of products to try to find the proverbial ‘diamond in the rough’. In actuality there was a lot of the same same same stuff out there. Ipod docking stations and speakers, iPhone accessories, cell phones and Bluetooth headsets, gaming gear, and of course the big, NO, large, No wait, ENORMOUS and flat, NO, skinny, NO, super slim TVs (by every manufacturer known to man, they were everywhere), and mp3 speakers for everything in your home. You’d think even my speaker needs a speaker.

Back in the cube farms the attendees are busy calling and following up on the products that they ‘think’ will help drive their business. Everyone is asking themselves: What are the top product contenders from CES? What products will actually hit online/retail shelves? What will be the consumer demand for each product category’s ‘best of breed’? What retailers will carry them? How do we know consumers will want to buy? Questions questions and yet no real answers. And of course EVERY news outlet and tech site have posted their ‘Top 10 CES Picks’ or ‘Best of CES’. But even with the glowing reviews of some of heavy hitter PR driven product releases, it doesn’t mean people will run out to buy it. So I’m actually looking forward to the next 3 months to see what products are diamonds and what products are stones.