Bluetooth speakers were a dime a dozen at this year’s CES. And though they might not revolutionize the audio world, they give designers a chance to experiment, which, in turn, could lead to truly innovative ideas.
If there’s one item that was practically unavoidable at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, it was the Bluetooth speaker, which is suddenly so ubiquitous that it was tough to walk more than 30 seconds of show floor without stumbling on yet another one. In some ways, this is just the unremarkable result of a set of maturing technologies, coupled with growing demand for music that’s mobile and uncomplicated. But these same qualities have also turned the Bluetooth speaker into a kind of design playground, giving industrial designers and tech companies an opportunity to flex their creative muscles in much the same way weather apps have for interaction designers.