The last century has seen a multitude of changes to the world. Figuratively speaking, our world has shrunk! Today as never before in the history of our planet, highly sophisticated communication networks enable us to maintain instant and constant contact with virtually any other part of the world. This advancement in communications technology has been made possible by the development and evolution of an extremely progressive electronics industry.
Perhaps the faction of the electronics industry to enjoy the most attention is consumer electronics. Consumer electronics are those electronic devices destined for “everyday use,” such as GPS auto navigation systems, WiFi, PC’s, MP3 players, televisions, phones, digital cameras, camcorders, DVD’s and media-players to name but a few. Today these products share two commonalities; they are based on digital technology and they have melded with the computer industry to make information technology user-friendly and readily available to everyone.
Fueled by competition, improved semi-conductors, the evolution of efficiency in manufacturing, increased automation and decreased labor costs, the trend has been and continues to be towards falling prices for all consumer electronics. The consumer electronic industry is evolving at warp speed; Moore’s Law observes that “for a given price, semiconductor functionality doubles every two years”. In other words, the state of the art is advancing rapidly; a generation is about two years for a consumer electronic product.
Every year in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA the latest advances in consumer electronic technology are unveiled to an eagerly awaiting world at the Consumer Electronic Show.