CES is a lot of fun, but my favorite toy trade show is the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention. I arrive tomorrow and return Wednesday and hope – on the way back – to walk across the new bridge that is 900 feet above the Colorado River at Hoover Dam.

I do video work today and did FM broadcasting decades ago. Today we’re all narrowcasting, but digital has made the tech now so much better – and cheaper! – than what broadcasters had 10 years ago that the possibilities are endless.

Pre-show expectations
Rumor has it that Apple will announce the newest version of Final Cut Studio – my preferred editing platform – on Tuesday. I’m also looking for any and all Thunderbolt peripherals, although the pre-show PR hasn’t mentioned it. I hope Promise and LaCie have something to show, and perhaps Sony as well.

Object storage should be more visible this year as well. And where will USB 3.0 show up – if it shows up anywhere – in pro gear?

The StorageMojo take
There’s something about pro gear – even though I can’t afford 98% of it and wouldn’t use it to best advantage if I could – that fascinates. Built into all the features and specs is deep knowledge of the technology and its limitations.

There are people who spend $5k for a microphone to record a single instrument. Their ears can discern the differences between equally high-end mics and they know how to mix them to get the sound they want.

Then we listen to all that painstaking work through crummy little earbuds. Oh well!

If you have something to share please contact me through the comments. I’m looking for cool stuff.

Courteous comments welcome, of course.