‘Digital President’ great news for CE

President Elect Barack Obama is good for the CE industry, according to the brains behind this year’s CES, Gary Shapiro.

With Barack Obama’s inauguration just days away, HCD editor Jamie Carter spoke exclusively to Shapiro, President and CEO of CEA – and organiser of CES – about the ‘first digital president’.

Asked if Obama is good for the CE industry, Shapiro replied “I’m not sure”. However, he quickly added: “He’s the first ‘digital president’. He uses technology: he loves his BlackBerry and he understands the importance like no other President ever has. He’s a big Internet user and he used his cell phone to announce all at once who he’d chosen as his Vice President.”

Shapiro is also keen on Obama’s idea to have a Chief Technology Officer, something that no other President has thought necessary. Although he has concerns about Obama’s massive support from the Unions, and the affect that might have on international free trade, Shapiro is looking forward to national US policies that will help streamline the CE industry: a national environmental law being crucial.

“The most important things is that American voted for him because they wanted change’” says Shapiro. “We believe that every time someone buys one of our products they want change – they change the status quo, they change businesses.”