Longterm Trends at CES

CES 2011 has come to a close in Las Vegas, I have been following it on-line all week. I have watched it live through the Tech Podcast Network, CNET and Twit. Everyone is talking about 3D TV, tablets and smart TV’s these are things that are current trends. There are some long-term trends that also showed up at CES 2011. These long-term trends, they may not occur this year, but I believe over the long haul they will happen.

The first is I saw a couple of devices that are targeted toward the aging baby boomer generation and their parents. These are devices that help the elderly remain in their own homes for as long as possible. Some are systems that reminded the elderly that they needed to do something, such as take medicine or go to an appointment such as the Smart Reminders Service by Independa. Other systems would allow a caregiver to keep track of their elderly parent health and well-being from a distance. Products like this will becoming more and more popular as the time goes by.

The second trend is products that connect and use the smart grid. These are products that give the user information about their electric usage before they are billed for it, allowing them to control their usage and therefore lower their electric bills. These can go from small products like the smart plug created by Freelux to the GE smart house of the future As the population grows and the number of product requiring electricity increases, the ability to provide electricity more efficiently is a vital.

The third trend is actually related to the second one and that is the electric car and the grid to serve it. With both GE which is making products to help electric cars charge faster and finally car companies like Ford getting serious about producing electric cars, maybe finally the age of the electric car or at least the hybrid is coming. It will be interesting to see where these long trends go and if they are really trends or not. Perhaps CES 2012 will give us a sign.