CES: Gizmodo Pulls A Prank

Capping off this week’s posts on all things CES-related is not a gadget, but still similarly newsworthy. Popular blog Gizmodo made its presence felt at CES recently and it wasn’t by presenting electronics of its own.

CES has no shortage of displays. And when MAKE offered us some TV-B-Gone clickers to bring to the show, we pretty much couldn’t help ourselves. We shut off a TV. And then another. And then a wall of TVs. And we just couldn’t stop. (And Panasonic, you’re so lucky that 150-incher didn’t have an active IR port.) It was too much fun, but watching this video, we realize it probably made some people’s jobs harder, and I don’t agree with that (Especially Motorola). We’re sorry.

Gear Diary is not amused:

This was not just a stupid high school prank that had been perpetrated on a faceless victim. This was sabotage that had been done to companies with massive financial investments in their CES appearances. The potential for lost sales, loss of good will, and loss of face was huge.

Larry from ZDNet’s Between The Lines finds it funny:

Would I have done the same thing as Gizmodo? I honestly don’t know. But I do know once I got my paws on the clicker I wouldn’t stop at one TV.

Will this cause organizers to ban bloggers from events? That’s a legitimate concern coming from some people. Of course, there’s the possibility that they just might be taking this too seriously.

Source: Gizmodo, Gear Diary, ZDNet

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