The Gadget Show Live 2013
Channel 5’s Gadget Show made it’s way to Earl’s Court in London last weekend, and yours truly was lucky enough to get invited to go take a gander! So please enjoy this quick and quirky review of the sights, sounds and smells of Gadget Show Live 2013.
First impressions: busy! Just wandering the stalls, my magpie sense was constantly on the go. Here a 3D printer making a small pink Yoda bust; there a man in a frog suit in a tank of water demonstrating the latest underwater phone; here GoPro glass with a built-in HD camera for super spy antics; there, a trio of Zombies drooling and sighing as people give them sideways glances and little “they’re not real…..I think” grins.
But soon, I started to notice themes. Whilst some areas showed innovation (mucking about on the new PS4 was fantastic, and the nerf gun arena brought my inner kid straight to the fore!) the rest of the show was dominated by stalls selling tablet holders, back up power sources for your smart tech and a bizarre stall selling “The X-Device that can cut onions/hickory sticks/adamantium girders”. It soon became monotonous, and within an hour I’d seen it all. A couple of stalls warranted a second look (the home 3D printer was affordable and very tempting!) but most of the show was very much repetitious. Maybe you need to be more of a techy geek, but I was bored very quickly!
The saving grace was the actual on-stage show with the four presenters of the TV show. What followed was the Twelve Days of Christmas, gadget style. Each day featured some cool tech and featured little skits by celebs like human beat box artist Schlomo and the Police Academy’s Michael Winslow (geekgasm!). There was even a giant six-legged walking tank, a promotional robot for a new toy called the Arachnitack that fires foam darts as it strides around your living room.
All in all, the exhibits themselves were a bit ‘meh’, but the floor show was worth the price of admission. To be honest, there was something for everyone at this show, but not in enough quantity to make the cost of a train ticket and admission worth it. Don’t let me stop you going in 2014, just make sure that wherever they hold it, plan something else to go alongside it for the afternoon!
Want to see some more? Head on over to Gadget Show website to see some highlights of the show in video form! Enjoy!
Bevan Clatworthy
An avid board and card gamer, this displaced Cornishman has spent way too much time playing games and skulking around his local hobby shops. He later escaped to Swindon, the land of roundabouts, where he currently designs games whilst infecting those who stand still too long with his gaming lurgy.
