The mother of all video production trade shows, NAB, finally returned to Las Vegas last week. With the physical conference canceled for the past two years, we at PremiumBeat<\/a> were ready for an all-gas-no-breaks approach to getting back down to business covering the madness of the NAB we knew to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But was that a practical expectation for what the trade show is in its current form, with the world being what it is now? Some thoughts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I find myself missing the days when the PremiumBeat writers’ room was just that, a writers’ room where we were all tuned in to the “wire” as each new and exciting camera announcement was revealed. We would also have on-the-ground personnel to get hands-on impressions and interviews fed to HQ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those were the days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, since that time, there’s been endless amounts of . . . chaos? I guess? With NAB getting canceled in 2020, things have just been weird regarding trade shows and how companies plan their release strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have to consider that the global electronics shortage has likely played its part in many announcements being delayed or put on the back burner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Will Knight<\/a> for Wired<\/a> says,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nearly two years into pandemic-caused disruptions, a severe shortage of computer chips\u2014the components at the heart of smartphones, laptops, and innumerable other products\u2014continues to affect manufacturers across the global economy.<\/p> Automakers can’t make enough cars, and have been forced to halt production<\/a> in recent months. The shortage has affected industries from\u00a0game consoles<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0networking gear<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0medical devices<\/a>. In October, Apple\u00a0blamed\u00a0chip scarcity for its financial results, and Intel\u00a0warned<\/a>\u00a0that the drought will likely stretch to 2023.<\/p> In short, the semiconductor supply chain has become stretched in new ways that are deeply-rooted and difficult to resolve. Demand is ballooning faster than chipmakers can respond, especially for basic-yet-widespread components that are subject to the kind of big variations in demand that make investments risky.<\/p>– Will Knight<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n With that, we do have to give some leeway to the lack of exciting releases at NAB this year, but also, I think we need to acknowledge that the way gear is announced changed around 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Historically, there used to be some mumblings and hype built up over several months, but now everything’s so remote and weird\u2014the releases all happen through social channels and influencer hype campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhat Used to Be<\/h3>\n\n\n\n