Beginning in June 1967 in New York City, 200 exhibitors and 17,500 attendees participated in the first International CES (Consumer Electronics Show). 

Forty years later, CES has grown to 2,700 exhibitors and over 140,000 attendees, attracting a worldwide audience. Know as the world's largest tradeshow for consumer technology, this year's 1.8 million square feet of exhibit space expanded the boundary once again.

The history of CES product debuts shows us exactly how far we've come in these short 40 (but very significant!) years in the world of consumer electronics. As I look over this list, I admit that I still don't know what half of these things are! For more information on the history of CES, go to the International CES Fact Sheet (where this blog information came from!):  http://www.cesweb.org/about_ces/fact_sheet.asp#1393.

Sit back, relax, and remember when these things did not exist in your very own lifetime:

Videocassette Recorder (VCR), 1970
Laserdisc Player, 1974
Camcorder, 1981
Compact Disc Player, 1981
Digital Audio Technology, 1990
Compact Disc - Interactive, 1991
Mini Disc, 1993
Radio Data System, 1993
Digital Satellite System, 1994
Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), 1996
High Definition Television (HDTV), 1998
Hard-disc VCR (PVR), 1999
Digital Audio Radio (DAR), 2000
Microsoft Xbox, 2001
Plasma TV, 2001
Home Media Server, 2002
HD Radio, 2003
Blu-Ray DVD, 2003
HDTV PVR, 2003
HD Radio, 2004
IP TV, 2005
An explosion of digital content services, 2006