Conference report: 50th consumer electronics show

摘要

E-content, e-everything, virtual reality (VR), AI, 3D/4D, robots, drones, self-drive, smart, Bluetooth, wireless mesh, smaller and more powerful, disruptive, autonomous and integrated into our personal, educational and health-promoting lives. These are some of the words and phrases that describe just some of the trends that were highlighted and displayed at the 50th anniversary of Consumer Electronics Show (CES) sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) in January. My thoughts are as follows: WOW, overwhelming, overcrowded, future focus, innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship, imagination, new ways of thinking and, for libraries, how are we going to keep up and be flexible enough to take advantage of all this? Do library hierarchies and silos keep us back, at least in academic libraries, whereas public libraries can act more quickly with greater funds for services and a culture of community engagement? How about libraries in developing countries - will they be left behind? With every new technology comes a greater and an increased digital divide. Yet, for those that dig deeper, for these countries too, there are appropriate new technologies that can be quite useful in improving their opportunities for growth (Plate 1).