Open Thread Extra: Your Tech Holiday Wish List
It’s that time of year again when countless workshops are hard at work creating magical items that will stun, amaze, and surprise everyone.
I’m talking, of course, about CES (the Consumer Electronics Show), where each year tech titans and aspiring innovators gather to showcase their tech visions made real.
Scheduled for January 6 – 9, 2026, this year’s show promises more bells and whistles than ever before, featuring everything from AI advancements to cutting-edge Vehicle Tech and much more.
Future Tech Wish List
As in previous years, CES is set to unveil a tech-packed future that touches nearly every aspect of life. From robotics and self-driving cars to digital health and fitness, gaming, smart homes, and even sports—the list is virtually endless.
However, there are a few items on my CES wish list that remain unchanged from last year:
- Hearing aids that automatically filter out background noise and utilize AI to enhance speech clarity. Just making things louder isn’t the solution, folks!
- TVs equipped with T-coil technology, either built-in or available as an app. Few things are as frustrating as watching a movie with closed captions that can’t keep up with the action on screen. Movie theaters should also adopt T-coil capabilities.
- Wearable fitness devices that invest as much in the wristband as they do in the technology itself.
- A universal archive of drivers for vintage yet functional laptops, towers, and printers.
- A universal printer that works with any operating system, regardless of age. I’m tired of the constant upgrade race between laptops and printers. It’s a printer—it prints your documents; it shouldn’t need to land on the moon and return.
- For heaven’s sake, let’s bring back instruction and owner’s manuals for tech devices.
YOUR TURN
But that’s just my perspective. What is on your tech wish list? What technology are you hoping to see at CES, now or in the future? Take our short survey below to share the tech categories you are most interested in. Share your dreams and ideas in the comments, and we’ll ask our CES correspondent to look for them among the booths at CES in January!
Virge Randall is Senior Planet’s Managing Editor. She is also a freelance culture reporter who seeks out hidden gems and unsung (or undersung) treasures for Straus Newspapers. She frequently writes about Old School New York City and performs at open mic readings throughout the city. Send Open Thread suggestions to editor@seniorplanet.org.
It’s that time of year again when countless workshops are hard at work creating magical items that will stun, amaze, and surprise everyone.
I’m talking, of course, about CES (the Consumer Electronics Show), where each year tech titans and aspiring innovators gather to showcase their tech visions made real.
Scheduled for January 6 – 9, 2026, this year’s show promises more bells and whistles than ever before, featuring everything from AI advancements to cutting-edge Vehicle Tech and much more.
Future Tech Wish List
As in previous years, CES is set to unveil a tech-packed future that touches nearly every aspect of life. From robotics and self-driving cars to digital health and fitness, gaming, smart homes, and even sports—the list is virtually endless.
However, there are a few items on my CES wish list that remain unchanged from last year:
- Hearing aids that automatically filter out background noise and utilize AI to enhance speech clarity. Just making things louder isn’t the solution, folks!
- TVs equipped with T-coil technology, either built-in or available as an app. Few things are as frustrating as watching a movie with closed captions that can’t keep up with the action on screen. Movie theaters should also adopt T-coil capabilities.
- Wearable fitness devices that invest as much in the wristband as they do in the technology itself.
- A universal archive of drivers for vintage yet functional laptops, towers, and printers.
- A universal printer that works with any operating system, regardless of age. I’m tired of the constant upgrade race between laptops and printers. It’s a printer—it prints your documents; it shouldn’t need to land on the moon and return.
- For heaven’s sake, let’s bring back instruction and owner’s manuals for tech devices.
YOUR TURN
But that’s just my perspective. What is on your tech wish list? What technology are you hoping to see at CES, now or in the future? Take our short survey below to share the tech categories you are most interested in. Share your dreams and ideas in the comments, and we’ll ask our CES correspondent to look for them among the booths at CES in January!
Virge Randall is Senior Planet’s Managing Editor. She is also a freelance culture reporter who seeks out hidden gems and unsung (or undersung) treasures for Straus Newspapers. She frequently writes about Old School New York City and performs at open mic readings throughout the city. Send Open Thread suggestions to editor@seniorplanet.org.
