Atmel | Bits & Pieces

Rewind: The vintage tech and trends of CES

Long before becoming the world’s largest consumer electronics show, the first CES took place in New York City back in June of 1967. The debut event, which originally began as spinoff from the Chicago Music Show, had attracted just about 17,500 attendees and 100 exhibitors. Since then, attendance has risen to over 160,000 visitors along with 3,600-plus exhibitors and countless new product releases. While the smart home, wearables and virtual reality may be the focus of CES 2015, once upon a time devices like VCRs and Nintendo consoles stole the spotlight.

With this year’s show in full swing, let’s take a quick look at the most noteworthy gizmos, gadgets and trends from the show since its 1967 inauguration.


Videocassette Recorders (VCRs), 1970


Laserdisc Players, 1974


Camcorders, 1981


Compact Disc Players, 1981


Nintendo, 1985


Digital Audio Technology, 1990


Compact Disc Interactive, 1991


Digital Satellite Systems, 1994


Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs), 1996


High-Definition Televisions (HDTVs), 1998


Digital Video Recorders (DVRs), 1999


Microsoft Xbox, 2001


Plasma TVs, 2001


HD Radios, 2003


Blu-ray Discs, 2003


HDTV PVRs, 2003


IPTV, 2005


OLED TVs, 2008


Netbooks, 2010


Tablets, 2010


Drones, 2010


3D TVs, 2011


Smart Appliances, 2011


4G Phones, 2011


Ultrabooks, 2012


3D OLED, 2012


Fitness Bands, 2013


Atmel XSense, 2013


Flexible OLED, 2013


Smart Glasses, 2014


Smart Lights, 2014


4K TVs, 2014


Driverless Cars, 2014


Futuristic Car Center Consoles, 2014