Sometime in the mid to late '70's while strolling among the catacombs of the CES exhibits in the “old South Hall, I was attracted to a small exhibit space manned by a tall, erect German gentleman. With a very thick accent, he was demonstrating 10:1 time compression digital B/W video via a commercial satellite link. Using side-by-side 13 monitors to compare the compressed versus uncompressed video, he demanded acknowledgement from me (his only audience) that this was indeed real and was the future of television. I didn't believe him - or the demo.

Convinced he was a retired SS Storm Trooper who firmly believed that he was still alive, I politely nodded in acknowledgement and slowly backed away. Little did I know that a decade late I would be immersed in that very same “voodoo technology.

Fast forward 35 years to the depths of the “new South-Hall, second floor at CES 2013. While strolling through the almost vacant area, a happened upon two very colorfully dressed ladies speaking in to a tall, erect German gentleman. I tensed. My God, the Strom Trooper reincarnated! Then he proceeded to walk right through the ladies! To my utter astonishment, he explained it was an advanced hologram display delivered via satellite from Germany. I didn't believe him - or the demo, and I slowly backed away.

An emergency call to my shrink revealed that the soonest appointment I could get was April 1.

Ed