News from the Consumer Electronics Show

I’m stealing that idea!!  (Ethics!!) and other ideas from CES
https://www.morningbrew.com/emerging-tech/stories/

CES - the Consumer Electronics Show is on in Las Vegas.  Here are some items from the show:

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From an article in my daily Morning Brew newsletter from Hewlett Packard Enterprises:

“It is no longer enough for the world’s greatest tech companies to focus only on innovation. Increasingly, corporate social responsibility is just as important—both to employees and consumers.

“In a recent report, respondents said they are 80% more loyal to companies with good ethics, while 68% said they wouldn’t buy from companies with poor ethics.

“And if that’s not enough proof, consider that 73% of respondents said that trust in companies matters more now than it did a year ago.

“It’s clear that ethics matters, but how are companies responding? We asked the experts, like Paula Goldman, chief ethical and humane use officer at Salesforce. Goldman says, “If we don’t do this, and we don’t lead, it’s going to kill our bottom line.”

“Yoav Schlesinger, principal at Omidyar Network, puts it more simply, “Ethics is not outcome; it is process.”

“Ethics is no longer a "nice to have" in the tech industry.”

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Interesting - some companies are multinational and some behaviors that are frowned upon in the United States are common in other countries.  Bribes and kickbacks seem to be expected in some environments (maybe they exist in the political arena in the United States - if XYZ company contributes to candidate X’s campaign they expect some favoritism if candidate X gets elected)!

The article says, “In a recent report, respondents said they are 80% more loyal to companies with good ethics, while 68% said they wouldn’t buy from companies with poor ethics.”  Are you loyal to ethical companies?  Do you stay away from less ethical companies?

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“54% of U.S. homes own at least one smart device, according to a Strategy Analytics survey released yesterday. The most popular smart devices are speakers (28% of homes), security systems (28%), and thermostats (21%).”

The top six items on the list are:

-1 Smart Speaker

-2 Interactive Security System

-3 Smart Thermostat

-4 Monitoring Cameras

-5 Video Doorbell

-6 Motion Detector. 

Do you have any of these?  Connie (at our house) has a smart thermostat and video doorbell.

How about this item: “This rapid take-up has inspired manufacturers to get...creative...with new smart device form factors. Example: At CES this year, Kohler (plumbing fixtures) revealed an Alexa-enabled speaker in a showerhead.

So, I can say “Alexa, make the water warmer!!”  (Hmm, can I ask “Alexa, turn the water into wine”!!!)

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How about chips at CES?

“AMD's new Ryzen Threadripper processor has 64 computing cores on one chip, a first for consumer chips. But it costs almost $4,000.”  (AMD is Advanced Micro Devices).  

Gee - I remember talking about Moore’s Law and chip speed.  64 computing cores on ONE chip?  That is mind-boggling (at least to me - who grew up on 80286; 80386 (known as 286 and 386 chips until Intel decided on a name that could be copyrighted (“Pentium”)).

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So, some miscellaneous news from CES!!

Hugs!!

Karen