CES Finally Admits the Inevitable

The in-person event is officially on ice

I’ve been attending the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas for 16 years, so the news that the physical convention is canceled for the first time in more than 50 years hit me hard.

CES is, for aspiring tech journalists, a rite of passage. For old salts like me, it’s a yearly opportunity to grumble about sore feet, needless meetings, overly warm and crowded show floors, and too-long taxi lines.

I made those complaints but in my heart, I loved it, and considered the annual event a sort of iron-person tech challenge. I would push myself to the literal edge, usually arriving home sick or getting sick while I was there.

Even so, the idea that the CES’s governing body, the (Consumer Technology Association) CTA, would consider holding the event during the age of Coronavirus seemed impossible and more than a little irresponsible.

I feel for the industries (taxis drivers, casinos, food vendors, hotels) it supports, but knowing about the close contact that such a convention almost certainly requires (from packed flights, to hotels rooms full of vendors, and keynotes that squeeze us in cheek-to-jowl), I could not conceive of how, even with the best of intentions and strictest cleaning and social distancing guidelines…