Can we get a Tech Czar please?

Boulder Digital Works Idea Studio numero dos included Warren Ng and Riley Gibson from Napkin Labs recounting their recent trip to CES and taking some time to talk about their company’s crowdsourcing model.

Warren’s presentation about CES was enlightening. He described football fields of convention center space filled with gadgets, doodads, 3-D TVs, augmented reality and cool remote control helicopters.

He showed video of super thin TVs, TV interfaces you control with your hand, cameras and all sorts of stuff. Warren was overwhelmed at the show and I was overwhelmed looking at all of the gear.

Thinking more about all of the technology on display got me thinking that there should be a Cabinet level Technology Czar. I know all the new stuff at CES is for early adopters, investors, hard-core gadgeteers  and people whose job it is to stay on top of the latest technological trends. However, I think for many people, walking into Best Buy feels like CES.

There is so much stuff out there and it can be difficult to figure out what’s right for you, what differences between products matter and what advancements are worth investing in. The Czar wouldn’t be in charge of technology. The person would be in charge of telling people which technology is actually worth considering and which is still being consumed by early adopters and has some kinks to be worked out. I’m look at you Nexus One.

Certain features have come to mean everything. There may not be a better example than megapixel. From 1 to 3 to 5 and on up into double digits everyone talks megapixels. However, I think there are a lot of people out there who don’t know that unless they’re shooting for a space shuttle wrap, they can do without the 12 megapixels.

We need the technology czar to give a State of The Tech Union for all of the people who don’t have tons of time to stay on top of each and every advancement. This role probably used to be filled by Consumer Reports and may now be filled by the car and tech guys who gush from trade shows in 5 minute uplinks on local news across the nation many mornings

There are a lot of outlets for information on technology, but sometimes more information just makes deciding harder. We need bare bones facts from someone we can trust – a George Clooney, Sully Sullenberger type.

I haven’t settled on whom I would nominate for Tech Czar, but I’d love to hear your ideas.