Gizmodo’s Childish Pranks at CES 2008

When asked to name the top tech blogs I normally list off the usual suspects “Engadget, CNet, CIO, Gizmodo, Wired”… Well the unthinkable has happened. This past week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, a representative of Gizmodo decided to have a bit of fun. This “fun” was at the expense of quite a few display demos. Long story short, a Gizmodo blogger armed with an IR remote decided it would be funny to wreak havoc and turn of displays mid demonstration.  Now to say I didn’t laugh when I saw the video would be a lie, but I digress. The humor in this prank does come with a cost. Screens were shut off while the gamer Fatal1ty was playing, while a speaker from Motorola was giving a presentation and while some DDR fans were playing. To be simple, NOT COOL!

Let me be not the first and probably not the last to say that it is immature actions like that, that continue to make bloggers look like fools to the media. We are not lacking in credibility in many aspects, however immature actions like that make a mockery of the lot of us when it is something as big as that. How old are we now, Gizmodo?

The punishment? Banning. I for one do not think this is too drastic. If you look at the video, you can see the confusion which ensued because of the meddlesome blogger.I would like to say that blogs like jkontherun and gottabemobile did a great job of covering CES. If anyone from Gizmodo happens to see this, take a look at those blogs and see what levels of professionalism you should aspire to hold your writers to. Not everyone gets to attend CES and get a press pass, and for what you did, I’m not at all surprised that you were banned.

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