January 06, 2008

Welcome to the Cisco Consumer Experience Blog!

What better time of the year than early January 2008 to start something new – CES is upon us, MacWorld is coming up, and then there are always New Year’s resolutions.

It’s a VERY interesting time in the world of consumer electronics. There are super-changes on the horizon. It’s a bird, it’s a plane, … it’s a product, it’s a service, … it’s managed, it’s DIY, … you rent it from service providers, you buy it at retail … – put it all together and it’s a consumer experience.

Cisco is well known to enterprises and technical types, but not so much to consumers. What we’ve done historically, developing “the network as a platform” is harder for consumers to grasp than a "bright shiny consumer electronics object" because a network's not tangible and because it does so many things, rather than one specific thing. It's like trying to sell an “invisible Swiss Army knife.” But the rise of digital video delivered over a network will not stop – so the system and partnerships that are required to deliver it in a way consumers want will evolve – and Cisco’s contribution to the consumer experience will grow along with the awareness of Cisco’s role. Be sure to follow our Cisco Consumer Web Site to see what we've got at CES and thereafter. We’ll all find out together as the year develops – and we hope you’ll join us on this blog to experience the adventure of inventing and discovering how the future plays out. -- Ken Wirt, VP Consumer Marketing

Posted by Ken Wirt on January 6, 2008 06:00 PM