Gambling on digital tech HDTV,
the Net, Hollywood bask in Vegas spotlight
By Tiare Rath, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 5:40 PM ET Jan 6, 1999
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LAS VEGAS (CBS.MW) -- Cool technologies for mobile phones,
computing and antennas figure prominently at this week's Consumer
Electronics Show, and high-definition television is likely to grab the
spotlight once again.
HDTV, which offers clearer pictures and CD-quality sound, has been all
the rage for early-adopter techies who love their TVs. The Federal
Communications Commission has set this November as a deadline for
broadcasters in the top 30 U.S. markets to carry digital broadcasting.
And yet, the actual boxes -- with their price tags running up to $10,000 --
have a ways to go before they capture the public's attention.
Expensive ice cream
"It's kind of like ice cream," said Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer
Electronics Manufacturers Association. "It's a wonderful product that
people understand, but you have to experience it to appreciate it."
Shapiro sees the appeal of high-definition television
broadening beyond rich techies. The Consumer
Electronics Manufacturers Association, sponsor of
the show that kicked off Wednesday, found in
surveys that 7 out of 10 Americans want to venture
to a store to check out high-definition television in
the next year.
Analysts at Forrester Research, however, recently
predicted that HDTV would be a failure because of
the high cost.
Most industry professionals coming to the trade
show, now in its 32nd year, probably have
experienced high-definition television. But if they
haven't, CBS (CBS) is giving them a taste of what
the future of television may look like by
broadcasting a National Football League playoff
game Sunday, Shapiro said. (CBS is a 50 percent owner of
MarketWatch.com, the publisher of this report.)
"HDTV's going to be very, very visible with a presence here, but there's a
lot of other things going on," Shapiro said.
It's not all HDTV
Everything from satellite dishes to new telecommunications products will
be introduced in the five day-long conference, which was expected to
attract more than 90,000 visitors and showcase 25,000 products.
On Thursday, Howard Stringer, president of Sony Corp. of America, is
slated to kick things off with a speech on how consumer technology and
Hollywood are meshing, particularly with HDTV. John Chambers, chief
executive of Cisco Systems (CSCO), will deliver the show's technology
keynote speech on Internet economy issues.
The entertainment industry and the tech world will also be featured in a
new series of sessions entitled "Digital Hollywood."
"The Internet's a big part of that," Shapiro said. One session Thursday,
called "In the Eye of the Internet Networks," will feature chief executives
and presidents from Lycos (LCOS), Broadcast.com (BCST), Excite
(XCIT) and Infoseek (SEEK), among other well-known Internet
companies.
Sessions in Digital Hollywood focus on everything from online retailing, or
"e-tailing," to video and software games. But much of the emphasis again
will be on digital television.
Friday, a "super session" on digital television will be held, led with a
speech by CBS Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Jordan. |
