The big news of the show is that none of the major electronics companies; Sony, Samsung, LG, and Panasonic were emphasizing TVs. It’s more like they were intentionally deemphasizing TVs. There were very few new TVs at the show and no exciting new technologies. We saw just a few 8K TVs and all of that was deemphasized in favor of experiences. Gone were the digital walls, or rows of big bright TVs touting the latest specs. We only saw a fraction of the usual TVs compared to prior years. A few displays were repeats from prior years.

I can understand why.

There is almost no margin in 4K TVs anymore. It’s all gone, yet there is very little content available in 8K, and the market is still barely moving along when producing 4K content. There is no point in pushing TVs on consumers that have no interest in buying something that is years ahead of content, and for a lot more money. The digital pipeline is years behind.

I don’t know how consumer electronics survives when most of what we saw were solutions where a problem doesn’t actually exist. I’m fearing that we’re reaching a point of diminishing returns with consumer electronics and what’s shifting are everyday habits. Mobility continues to sift at a rapid pace. We saw endless electric scooters, motorcycles, bikes, and cars. Meanwhile what should a TV achieve that it doesn’t do already? What should a TV sound like? How good does audio need to become before you don’t care any more? How sharp does a TV become before you don’t care anymore?

Do you really need a device that refreshes your shoes? Would you use it? So what if your refrigerator has handy information on the outside. Will it cause you to replace what you have? Overall, this was not the theme of CES this year.

We’re finally seeing the adoption of autonomous vehicles in a closed environment which was the second step in the ecosystem before they would be turned loose on the streets. Caterpillar has people right now manning construction equipment operated hundreds or thousands of miles away from the operators. In fact, Caterpillar can’t hire engineers and operators fast enough. This is going to lead to very dramatic changes in construction operations worldwide. It also presents some interesting regulatory challenges. A group of operators can be sitting in the middle of Missouri managing earth moving anywhere in the world, and especially in horrible work environments where a small crew can remain on site to refuel and troubleshoot.

We did see a lot of wearable medical devices as we have before and some of the analysis seems rather bold. More on that in my coverage of day 3.

LG had a lot of gadgets while Sony and Samsung were emphasizing how their products would be put to use. I was left with the distinct impression that none of these consumer electronics companies are clear about where they are going. It’s as if they are looking for something to stick at a time when transportation solutions seem to be in the limelight at CES.

For years the auto industry was way off pace with consumer electronics and years behind, but now the auto industry is catching up fast. Electric trucks have a demand that far outstrips supply. Few of these vehicles would get all that much consideration if they were internal combustion engine driven. Yet, call it an EV and the production wait list goes back years. Consumers clearly want EVs, however, as I can’t before, we can’t produce the materials and electricity to drive them fast enough.

Here is the real problem. With the flood of EVs and the lack of rapid charging availability, you will see a steep decline in long road trips. Truck stops will be hit hard, unless they all become rapid charging stations. We have a new travel plaza coming up with 120 gas pumps. What happens to all that? Gas won’t disappear, but do they switch to EV stations?

Time to bring back nuclear power!