The saddest man at CES
In the midst of attendees milling around, amid the noise, the excitement, and the flashing lights, one man suffered: the man from Sharp who presented to nobody.
LAS VEGAS -- The Consumer Electronics Show is like the real world in only one sense: everyone is trying to capture your attention.
So if they can't do it with dancing girls, they hire actors and professional presenters who are there to lure you to a company's wares.
This morning, for example, Panasonic and Samsung were employing more flashing lights than Amsterdam. They talk at you, they play music, they activate multifarious screens at passing eyes -- everything to halt your gait and grab your eyes and brain.
Every company at CES garnered some kind of crowd. Every company enjoyed the attentions of at least a few people who stood, stared and even ignored their phones.
Save for one gentleman.
He looked good. He fed his microphone with the velvety tones of his voice. No one stopped to listen.
No one.
He was presenting Sharp's televisions. I feel sure these are perfectly competent boxes. I feel sure that, being 60 inches wide, they would quite happily suffice for your Super Bowl party.
Perhaps, though, they don't seem as glamorous as Samsung's OLED TVs.
Perhaps the name "Sharp" has lost a little of its definition.
The presenter became so frustrated that he began walking along his narrow stage and attempting to impress people standing behind him. They continued to have their backs to him and he clearly felt unable to say: "Can't you people just listen here for a moment? I'm corpsing."
People continued to walk by his aisle. In the time I was there, no one stopped to hear his words. Like a man marooned, he kept talking, even though he knew he was only talking to himself.
Some might say he isn't very good at what he does. I can only hope Sharp buys him a very large dinner at Joel Robuchon's tonight.