RETAILOBSERVER.COM FEBRUARY 2023
6
Moe Lastfogel
moe@retailobserver.com
Moe's Musings Views
Happy Superheroing,
M
ost children today want to grow up and be just like their favorite
superheroes – and use all of their cool gadgets. The heroes' futuristic
devices may not be available right now, but the technology displayed
at CES recently has made some of those childhood dreams a real possibility.
Dick Tracy's wristwatch video phone with computer upgrade, camera ring
and Magnetic Space Coupe made him one of my favorite characters. Since
he was created in the 1930s, many of Dick Tracy's gadgets have been
developed and are now on the market – some of them may even be obsolete.
The current crop of superhero crime fighters like Batman and Batgirl would
probably be envious of the products available to the average consumer today
or in the not-so-distant future.
GPS, smartphones, tablets and even robotics have made the average
person a superhero of sorts. We can start a washing machine from a mile
away with the touch of a button on our phone. We can send a robotic vacuum
into any room of our house and get a live video feed of where it's going. And
we can move inanimate objects, like a ball, with our minds. As bizarre as it all
may sound, today's technology has made it a reality. But are we ready for it?
As I wandered through CES, I saw holographic 3D-projected displays that
looked so real I was almost fooled, and new home-connectivity products that
will make our busy lives much simpler. I reflected on the 1970s when induction
cooking was patented and the first real units were produced. Today, they are
manufactured by nearly every major appliance company. Yet it took the public
nearly 50 years to embrace the technology. The progress we've made and
opportunities for more seem endless.
The kids today seem to be on pace to be the technology buyers of the
future. According to Advertising Age, today's children are starting early: "The
sweet spots for majority-usage look like this: mobile phone, age 11;
smartphones, age 16; laptop/PC, age 4; digital camera, age 5." They even
claim that 25% of all mothers have let their toddlers use a mobile phone by
age 2. Amazing – right?
As for us adults, the ease of use and more affordable pricing of the new
technologies are making it ever-easier to incorporate them in our lives. Sooner
than we think, we may all be cooler than our childhood superheroes.
MODERN DAY
SUPERHEROES?
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