Consumer Electronics Show 2026

The Consumer Electronics Show used to be the place where Steve Jobs took a stage with more fawning fans than any Hollywood celebrity. These days it's simply a great trade show.

Dan Fulford and I walked the floor looking for potential partners and licensees for cell phone accessories. Great story on that in a bit. But first I need to say that the amazing tech on display at CES—robots, holograms, super hi-res displays, drones, AI applications—was all very cool, but did not amaze us. I mean, yes, it's great that a robot can pick up socks and put them in a hamper, the tech that enables that is astounding... In any case, nothing I saw at CES impressed me more than the self-driving Waymo taxis I've seen on the streets of Los Angeles during my visits over the past year.

As I said above, we did not go to CES for the latest in tech. We went there to do business. On Wednesday morning I started the day by seeking a meeting with Belkin (now owned by Foxconn). Belkin did not have a booth. Away from the crowds, they had tower suite rooms at the Wynn. A taxi cab ride, long, long walk down massive corridors and an elevator up to the 19th floor, put me in front of a very polite young woman who explained, no, you're not getting in if you haven't been invited. As she was taking my information and a sample—which she promised to share with the appropriate person—she actively walked me back to the elevator and then rode down the elevator with me to make sure I understood that I was not getting in. I got the point and was frankly not surprised. I went on to visit exhibitors at the Venetian and at the convention center and had some productive meetings. At the end of the day my feet ached. I don't count steps but I do know what it feels like to walk continuously for seven hours. I was done for the day, on my way out, accompanied by inventor Lucas Saltus*, when Lucas pointed at a booth displaying the kind of accessories that are a good match for our inventions. We stopped and made a short presentation to the company's general manager. He was impressed and said, "My company supplies Belkin." I gave him some samples. He said, "I'm meeting Belkin on Monday and will discuss this with them."

And that is why you go to trade shows.

- Mike Marks

*Lucas Saltus is an inventor who had submitted a charging adapter to Invention City a couple of years ago. We initially said no, then did a presentation and survey for him. The survey results were positive enough that we offered him a conditional deal: if/when we had success with our own cell phone accessory, we would consider adding his invention to our line. He joined us at the show in the same spirit. We have an understanding that Invention City might license his product and then sublicense it to another company. It was great to have him there.

Learn more about Invention City here: https://www.inventioncity.com/...