Report on: INNOVATIONS seen at the “MOTIVATION SHOW” (Incentive products) Convention; + a commentary on STEVE JOBS

2011, 10-05:

Report on:  INNOVATIONS seen at the “MOTIVATION SHOW” (Incentive products) Convention;  + a commentary on STEVE JOBS

 

 

In the past, I have done some reports on a fascinating private yearly convention held in Chicago called the “MOTIVATION Show”, which concentrates on INCENTIVE type products offered as gifts by companies & individuals to reward & thank employees, customers, etc. for their business & efforts...

...  ( A previous report can be found re a service designed to be able to put “YOU” in photos with MOVIE STARS & similar subjects, as reported on the web-site at:  http://voice-of-film.blogspot.com/2011/02/report-on-service-to-put-you-in-photos.html )...

...  Besides being intriguing, the Show is in certain ways an interesting “thumbnail” view of how the ECONOMY is going:

...  The economy in the U.S. has been very WEAK for the last few years...  Last year’s show was like HALF the size of the show the year prior to that (= 2009)... 

...  THIS year’s show was about ½ the size (in the booths of exhibitors) of the 2010 show--  in part because the huge TRAVEL incentive group was vastly reduced due to the situation that a separate show on that subject is being held in LAS VEGAS in about a week (& thus most exhibitors at the Chicago show hugely reduced the usual size of their booths, or didn’t show up at all)...

...  But, a somewhat “POSITIVE” sign for this year’s show was the fact that there was a nice steady stream of people ATTENDING the show on its first day (October 5th)...

...  And, most visitors I talked to (including long-time attendees) were pleased at what they were able to see at this year’s Convention, with a number of good displays, a goodly number of computers available for free use, etc....

...  As usual, I spent my time trying to discover some new / UNUSUAL / and / or  INTERESTING items being shown:

...  CANON showed a number of new CAMERA models, including their Powershot SX230HS (which I’ll try to show below)...

...  It’s their first model designed with a built-in GPS function:  It can record time & location information with both stills & videos shot with the camera.  Then, you can use software bundled with the camera to “pinpoint” your shooting locations on a MAP, & thus “track” where you travel...

...  Their brochure further claims “You can also create personalized travel guides with custom maps to SHARE among friends and family.”...

  

...  A number of years ago, I wrote REVIEWS testing out AUDIO / VIDEO equipment for a nationwide magazine...

...  One of the items I tested out back then was a then-amazing product which could take an input & PROJECT video & similar items onto a screen or wall in what then was a very LARGE size (5 feet --  around 2 meters -- in diagonal measurement)...  The projector cost THOUSANDS of dollars, but worked excellently...

...  Since then, the industry --  besides releasing FLAT-PANEL TVs -- came up with considerably SMALLER & especially far less-EXPENSIVE projectors that can do that (with the price having dropped to just a couple hundred dollars on up for them)...

...  At this year’s show, I saw an exceptionally SMALL series of projectors from a company called OPTOMA ( http://www.optomausa.com/ )...

...  Unfortunately, the normal “insert image” function of  the “Blogger” program I use for this web-site has NOT WORKED properly for WEEKS --  & they’ve “IGNORED” my 3 letters asking what can be done to “FIX” the problem...

...  But, if I’m able to “attach” the photos by “cut-&-paste”, you can see below that the new Pico projectors are in some cases SMALLER than a lot of TV remote controls...

...  A short time later at today’s Show, I saw something along that idea that struck me as even more incredible:  A NIKON Coolpix S1200pj point-&-shoot camera that ITSELF INCLUDES a built-in projector that can project in a size up to around 2 meters!...

...  I tried out the camera, shooting a photo of the man demonstrating the equipment...  Then, after I myself tried out the PROJECTOR feature (which can be “set” to DIFFERENT sizes of projection), I asked him to HOLD the camera...

...  As you can (hopefully) see in the photo below, I shot a separate photo of him HOLDING the camera & using it to project the image I’d previously SHOT of him onto his own SHIRT --  so you can see him projecting his face’s image right onto himself UNDER his REAL face!...

 

...  It’s an AMAZING piece of technology!...  Unfortunately, for now, it  lists for around $ 400- $ 500 or so...  But, eventually, the price of such items will start to come DOWN & thus be available to a wider range of people...

...  Today, there was the unfortunate news of the passing away of STEVE JOBS who brought out so many electronic & computer-based innovations in the APPLE company he co-founded, along with ones utilized in the PIXAR animation company...

...  Many hours BEFORE that news was known, while I was at the “MOTIVATION SHOW”, I was impressed with seeing that YOUNG people today are STILL working in the world of trying to provide INNOVATIONS to the world around them:

...  I met DINO ZAHARAKIS.  At 12 years old, he is seemingly the YOUNGEST person ever to exhibit at the Show (demonstrating an item he’d devised the year before)...

...  He started out inventing when he was 11--  coming up with an idea of painting special stripes on his LACROSSE helmet so his mother could “find” him more quickly when he played with his team...

...  He then decided to dye the head of his lacrosse STICK, & that became so popular, he started to SELL such items, coming up with a “business plan” that had pricing (@ $ 5 per color), some ORDER forms, + a web-site for it!...

...  As Dino gew up in Bethlehem, PA, he saw how his dad had devised a jerry-rigged stand to hold an iPAD (-- designed by Steve Jobs’ company --) which he was using... 

...  Dino noticed what he considered to be a number of FLAWS in what his father had designed, & came up with ways he felt he could IMPROVE on the design...

...  His father Steve encouraged him to try to PERFECT his idea, & said, if he did come up with a suitable “dock” for the iPad + a web-site to MARKET his idea, he’d buy him his OWN iPad!...

... Well, Dino started tinkering with aluminum pieces & a vise & saw, & came UP with a product that was eventually called a DZDock (which he got a patent pending on, with the help of one of the parents of a lacrosse teammate)...

...  His invention was tested out (re holding iPads, iPhones, various e-readers such as the Kindle & nook), a WEB-SITE was set-up (along with bar-codes & packaging), & it’s now being sold by a corporation called ZLabs, Inc. (referring to his family’s last name)!...

,,,  As Dino & his dad told me (before I shot a photo of Dino HOLDING his invention) , it took like 2-3 months of work to get the prototype the way they “wanted”, & they were proudly EXHIBITING & SELLING the triangular-shaped device at the Show!...

 

(...  Information on the product can be seen at http://www.dzdock.com/ ;  the phone # is 212.758.7400, & there’s a direct e-mail of stevez@dzdock.com ...  As their flyer says, “Today’s Dreamers / Inventors.  Tomorrow’s ENTREPRENEURS.” ...)

...  So, it’s ENCOURAGING to see that young people are following in the “footsteps” of people like Steve Jobs & STILL working to invent, create & innovate in today’s difficult world!...  

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