CES - the ultimate droolsville for gadget lovers may be taking it a bit easy this year on account of the economy. So for those of you who had already planned on saving a few pennies by not going for the show this year , it means that you wont be missing out on too much. Oh sure, there will be those fabulous launches and true lover of techno-gadgets would always want to be present for what can be expected later this year , but compared to the last few boom years , CES 2009 is going to be a much more sober affair.
Cisco is one of the first exhibitors who has balked at the USD $35 per square foot booth in the CES preferring to go the lone ranger way by renting more space at the Venetian Hotel and using video conferencing technology at its most. If you thought Cisco didnt matter much anyway , the list also includes Yahoo, Seagate, Logitech, and Belkin which are looking into cutting costs by having a smaller booth or none at all (as is the case with Philips) at CES 2009.
The show itself if measured in terms of size (area) will be smaller as compared to the hey-days of 2007 and 2008. While CES is the event when it comes to tech launches, one could be forgiven for comparing it with Comdex (which also used to be the event for computer related stuff, which has since bitten the dust).