What’s the Right Size?

As you walked the floor of the CES* show this year (#ces2012), it was hard not to be overwhelmed by the avalanche of devices of almost every conceivable size, shape, thickness, weight and feature. If last year was the year of the tablet’s rise, this year is…well…the muddling of everything. We have smart phones that are so big they are almost tablets and tablets that are so small they can almost fit in your pocket. We have super-slim, light and long-lasting PCs designed to challenge iPads, and tablets that are so powerful and feature-laden they could easily masquerade as PCs. 

And don’t get us started on televisions. While it was hard to ignore the gargantuan new 3D displays, the show this year also saw the unveiling of ultra-slim wide-screen televisions using tablet display technology and super HD displays at four times the clarity of the current HD systems gracing many of our living rooms.  So let’s get this right…now televisions are integrating in tablet-style displays, while tablets are moving toward the integration of 3D display technology.

We saw cars that pull in live television and Internet radio, gaming platforms used to stream movies and access social networks, cameras working like e-mail and social media appliances, and smart phones with advanced cameras. 

Reflect on it all and it’s pretty clear that nobody has really figured out what consumers want, perhaps including consumers themselves. Or maybe consumer needs are so fragmented that there is a rightful place for all of these devices.

Talking with company executives and representatives did not reveal a lot of clarity or certainty anywhere. We heard a lot of things like “we’ll roll these out and let consumers decide” from companies you’d think would have a more definitive plan.

So what does it mean for our team and our clients, who are in the business of producing apps and content and developing targeting strategies for our clients’ messages? In the short term, it means we’re going to have to produce for a lot of different formats, sizes, operating systems and devices, which means lots of time spent duplicating and optimizing. And, at the same time, prognosticating, closely examining market shifts and, to help manage the insanity, pushing for greater interoperability and portability standards.

All in all, 2012 is going to be an exciting year in the world of consumer electronics. Enjoy the ride!

*CEA is an APCO client