If you have never been to CES, it truly is an event like no other. However, technology at the show seems to get caught up with jumping forward to the future before fixing the current issues that lie in front of us. Here are four products I wish someone would create and show off at this world-renowned event this year.
Reboot box: This one is so simple, but needs to retail at $19.99 or less. The Reboot Box would be a little Wi-Fi-enabled plugin device that must be thin. You would plug it into your cable box and without doing anything—not even connecting the Wi-Fi—it would recycle power on the device at 3 a.m. once a week. By connecting the app, you would be able to reboot manually. There are devices similar to this idea, but none this simple, direct for the client, or in this price range.
Every week I have to tell customers (or a sad senior who acts as they have just lost their best friend, their TV), that I am not talking them through unplugging their cable box to reboot. My favorite part of this story is the conversation always starts with “my TV is broken and I’m very frustrated.” After we spend some quality time on the phone and reboot the box, never do they apologize for insulting my dear equipment. Selling the Reboot Box as an add-on at the time of install would save me hours and hours of my life, and I’m sure yours too.
HUB: If you’re an avid reader of mine, you know I live in Buffalo, NY. The weather in Buffalo can start at 78 degrees and end at 40, or vice versa. Let’s just say you never truly know what the weather is going to be from day to day (or even from hour to hour). Today we woke up to rain and 40 degrees, and by the end of the day, we are expected to end up with six inches of snow. Enter HUB, a flat screen device that does NOT do everything. HUB would have the weather on screen (without asking for it) along with your day’s alerts, like “Ella has her violin lesson today!” Then, before we leave for the school, the screen in the kitchen would flash until I touch it, reminding me to grab that violin. Traffic alerts might also ping. That’s it. No email access. Just a simple at-a-glance piece of technology to simplify my life and make sure I remember to get dog food.
Streamer: This would be one streaming device that streams it all in a simple format like Apple TV. If everyone could get along, we wouldn’t need a third-party device. Why can’t I watch Prime TV on my Apple TV? Probably for the same reason I can’t buy an Apple TV on Amazon. There is no doubt that streaming is the wave of the future; how great would it be to have one device that had all the major players? Seriously people.
MyAlarm: Alarm clocks have been around since the late 1800s and the technology has not changed much since. Sure, we can choose what song or melody to wake up to, but we are still playing this out loud for all to hear. How about an alarm clock that only wakes up the person who needs to get up? Wouldn’t that be a novel idea, especially now that folks are wearing electronics on their wrists to count their steps and track their sleep. Once again, simple. MyAlarm does not need to do it all, just do one thing well!
There you have it, four products I would love to see come out of CES 2017. They may not be as flashy as voice control, but I am all about simple ways to improve my world (and yours) with tech. What new problem solvers would you love to see?
