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One of the big stories last week was the CES show in Las Vegas.
I guess they used to call it a consumer electronics show. You're not
supposed to use that anymore. It is like calling the super Bowl the super
Bowl. Were supposed to pay for that. One of the things that you
heard on this program last week, and we hear frequently because Holland Cook is
on the program with some very helpful, very servicing, useful ideas, because
he's a useful idea guy. He's a radio guy. I know you could
never tell that by listening to his voice or his demeanor, but just you
know, mask your concern, ladies and gentlemen. If he does this sounding
like a radio guy, like you know, all of us I suppose sound
like radio people to appoint. People when they meet me say oh, he's
all like a radio guy. I don't think I do it all. I
do think Holland does. That's to his credit. He's been to the radio
business pretty much since he could walk. He has a great deal of expertise
in all formats. But he makes it his business to serve his clients by
going to the CES every year. And so I asked him to come on
and talk about what was most important. And I don't want to color your
ideas. That is, I don't want to give you a lead. I
want you to tell me what the lead story is, because you're very good
at that to begin with. So, ladies, let's have Holland share some
thoughts from his experiences last week at CES in Las Vegas. I got to
big stories for you. But I figured out yeah, and I figured out
what to call this. I shouldn't say I did because somebody said this on
stage. But CES is the new and this will be a dated reference.
CEES is the new World's Fair. Really remember the words, remember the World's
Fair. We don't get together and Flushing Meadows or New Orleans or wherever it
was, and we see what was the future. And that's what you see
at CEES. And I'll give you the two big stories. They are AI
and EV Artificial intelligence. A lot of people are playing around with chat GPT,
that is AI on training wheels. It's already in our lives. Every
time you book a table at a restaurant or you book a flight, you're
using artificial intelligence. It's just transfer. So how does that factor into let's
say, making a reservation on an airplane. It's the way the software is
built. But the consumer is now getting products that have AI in them.
There was a Korean manufacturer with a stop snoring pillow that detects when you're making
too much noise and it will puff air to inflate certain parts of the pillow
to change your position. There is a vacuum cleaner that can sense what type
of surface it's cleaning and apply suction based on that surface. So this is
going to pop up in everyday life. But there is already a concern about
what we call deep fakes, where you hear someone's voice sampled, or you
see someone on the internet but it's not really them. Their appearance has been
sampled and they appear to be saying something that they never actually said. So
there are concerns about this. At the moment. The Trump campaign has sampled
the voice of Paul Harvey and his famous monologue about God gave us the farmer
and out in Iowa, they're showing God gave us Trump in the voice of
Paul Harvey, who's probably spinning in his grave. So some research that the
Consumer Technology Association has done has surfaced concerns about privacy, disinformation, safety,
and job loss because a lot of things are being automated via AI. And
seventy four percent of those surveyed think the federal government should regulate artificial intelligence,
which I think is conspicuous because the general societal bent these days is to get
the federal government to regulate less. But this is that much of a concern,
and as I say, what we've seen so far as a tip of
the iceberg. So that's the thumbnail sketch on AI. In terms of EV
electric vehicles are no longer just cars. We saw a new Mercury thirty outboard
motor. There, there were e bikes and e boats and construction equipment.
And the issues that we're focused on are the obvious ones battery range, how
far can my cargo on a charge? And faster charging. And in the
research that the Consumer Technology Association has done, there's a values message there.
A lot of people embrace the EV car because they just don't want to use
gasoline that much for obvious reasons. We've had our chain yanked by gas prices
going up and down, and there is genuine concern about the environment. So
that's what's driving that one minor story that caught my eye. Every year at
this convention is fascinating how innovation surfaces. Everything this year that is shining and
new is meant to obsolete everything that we were ooing and eyeing over last year.
You know, how can we make something even better than last year?
And yet a trend we've seen this year is refurbished smartphones that the major manufacturers,
due to cost reasons, are offering phones that are all cleared up and
wiped off and have new software on them. Apple and Samsung are into this
business now because every time they roll out a new iPhone, it's so expensive
that that big line at the store is not quite as long as the last
version. And they are recycling phones, which has an environmental wrinkle to it.
So who knew that in a show where everything has to be new,
that the guys who are making the new stuff are figuring how to recycle the
old. You know, you've said some things in there. This is not
about a debate. I'm thankful that you have brought this, all of these
items, these too, especially to our attention. The thing that kind of
galls me actually, and wonder who's following around to ask the questions that there
are good questions that you have answered, and then there are questions that haven't
been answered by any of these people. And they're not going to probably spend
much time, if any, at the CEES show because it's contrary to their
mission. But in the consumer iye, there are questions about gasoline, fossil
fuels, what it takes to power these battery operated cars, trucks, buses,
whatever it is. And at the end of the day, there aren't
answers. Aren't you ever Do you ever feel, because you're a very curious
guy, that there are to be some answers to what do we do with
these batteries in seven years? And what do we do? Yeah, there's
in just a few minutes, I will be unable to give you comfort on
that. But there were square miles of stuff about that at CEES. This
show is now such a big expo that even the sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center
can't contain it. It's all up and down the strip at various hotels.
I got blisters on my feet. But there is a lot about sustainability going
on there, and I thought of you because in terms of eating ourselves down
the road, there was a company showing what is a big inflatable, cube
shaped smart farm that they can unpack and blow up and take to the most
arid desert and grow crops inside. And there is an awful lot about recycling
stuff. You know. One of the knocks on the EV from those who
are unschooled on it is what do we do with these batteries? And what
about China holding us hostage with lithium. Next time you're at the beach,
look down, it's called silica. They're going to be making batteries out of
saying that. Yeah, that's something that is a trend. You're right,
Okay. I would like to have that farm thing info wise, because you,
as well as all the people listening hopefully know about the American Family Farmer.
I know it's one of your favorite shows. So we'll get that info
and put that person on the air. Yep, thank you Holland Cook here
to give us the update on c Yes, thanks Holland, Yep, you
bet the next Stefan. Good Day download with Doug and Jay Kirshner is made
possible in part by Caltron, which is the safe way for you to lose
weight and keep it off, and also by previgent keeping your brain healthy