Venezuela, CES, and Visualizing Musk's Wealth

What's the point of a consumer electronics show?

Consumer electronics shows are large convention-type events where companies debut new technologies and products. The largest and most notable shows are CES in Las Vegas, a trade show every January, and IFA Berlin, which takes place annually in September. The events have historically introduced novel, cutting-edge products that later became household standards, like HDTVs, VCRs, DVDs, and gaming consoles (see list).

Over time, these shows evolved from product showcases (see last year's coolest gadgets) into complex industry ecosystems, serving as a meeting ground for startups, multinational technology companies, investors, and the media. Hardware launches, keynote speeches, and off-floor meetings influence business strategy, often shaping it months or years before products reach consumers.

CES, founded in 1967, positions itself as a future-facing, agenda-setting trade event focused on emerging technologies and long-term industry direction. IFA Berlin, which held its first meeting in 1924, is more market-facing, emphasizing finished consumer electronics and appliances that are closer to retail.

... Read what else we learned about the events here.

Also, check out ... 

> Photos of early iterations of CES. (View)

> See last year's winners of the CES "Worst in Show" awards. (Read)

> It's actually pretty hard for the public to get into CES. (Read)

> The time Bill Gates triggered the "blue screen of death" while showcasing Windows 98 onstage. (Watch)

In partnership with Babbel

New Year, New Language, New You

"Learning another language is like becoming another person" - Haruki Murakami. If you’re like us, the New Year means another resolution to change something about ourselves… but this time, why not try something a little different (read: that you won’t actually dread) rather than hitting the gym at 5 a.m.? Something like learning a new language with Babbel.

With Babbel’s New Year’s Sale, you can get 65% off a lifetime subscription, which includes unlimited access to 14 languages, award-winning instruction, bite-sized lessons, podcasts, and even interactive speaking practice … all of which will help you start speaking a new tongue in as little as 3 weeks. Talk about a mouthful! 

With over 15 million users, Babbel isn’t just a trusted source for learning a new language—it’s a path to a new you, or (at the very least), a new outlook on the world. Get 65% off your lifetime subscription right here. 

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The stock market, explained

The stock market consists of a set of exchanges and other venues where shares of public companies are bought and sold. The Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange are two of the most well-known exchanges in the US, while major exchanges also operate around the world, including in Tokyo, Shanghai, London, and São Paulo (see map).  

In the early 1600s, the Dutch East India Company spurred the creation of the first-ever stock exchange, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (now Euronext Amsterdam). To fund its ocean voyages, the company sold shares and paid dividends to investors. In 1792, 24 stockbrokers and merchants signed the “Buttonwood Tree Agreement” that created the New York Stock Exchange.

The sentence, “I own 10 shares of Apple stock,” illustrates the difference between stocks and shares (explore these definitions further). Investors spend their careers trying to anticipate what the stock market will do next by structuring risk, using tax advantages, and undertaking due diligence. Roughly 90% of active managers of large, public funds underperform the major indexes. 

... Read our full explainer on the stock market here.

Also, check out ... 

> A beginner's guide to stock market terms. (Read)

> See how the stock market performed under each US president. (Read)

> Up to 1,000 people stand on the floor of the NYSE each day. (Read)

> The "Barbie" movie influenced swarms of investors to buy shares of Mattel. (Read)

Soap operas, 101

Soap operas are long-form, episodic melodramas that follow various characters as they navigate family dynamics, romantic affairs, and sometimes absurd twists of fate. The genre began on American radio in the early 1930s and earned its name thanks to its primary advertisers, which were often soap brands that sought the shows’ predominantly female audiences.

As television became more popular, soap operas transitioned to the visual medium. Unlike more typical prime-time programs, soap operas aired every weekday, necessitating a hectic production schedule that often led to their low-budget aesthetic. By the 1970s, soaps were attracting millions of viewers who appreciated their open-ended narratives and salacious storylines.

Today, traditional American soap operas are significantly less popular than in the past, which media scholars suggest is caused by several factors, including the rise of reality television. Despite the decline of soap operas, the telenovela, a similar Latin American genre that evolved in parallel with its American counterpart, has become a widespread global phenomenon.

... Read our full write-up on soap operas here.

Also, check out ... 

> Dozens of A-listers got their start on soaps. (Read)

> Meet Irna Phillips, the woman who pioneered soap operas. (Watch)

> TV's first soap opera earned bad reviews. (Listen)
> Did reality TV replace soap operas? (Read)

Best of the Week

We added 150 resources this week to our knowledge collective—here are some of our favorites.

On the benefits of a "fart walk." 

Visualizing the sum of Elon Musk's hard-to-imagine wealth.

How James Garfield's 1881 assassination laid the foundation for a continuous news cycle.

Brueghel's "Hunters in the Snow" seems cozy, but also depicts winter hardship. 

What's the clearest measure of a competitive market? The Olley-Pakes decomposition.

Mapping fiction's apocalyptic visions of US collapse. 

What GDP, price-to-earnings ratio tell us about a possible AI bubble.

Nostalgia over the long-extinct AOL Instant Messenger.

Charting every NFL score, from the impossible (5 to 1) to most common (20-17).

How successful pop artists build systems of participation.

The ancient Egyptians built a Suez Canal prototype thousands of years earlier. 

Agave plants grow for six years—making tequila uniquely prone to oversupply.

Why the view against having children has found a foothold in Japan. 

Some Nazi leaders fled to South America and lived for decades. 

James Hemings, Jefferson's enslaved cook, helped popularize mac and cheese.

In partnership with Babbel

3 Weeks for a Lifetime of Language

Picture this: It’s the end of January, you’re revisiting your resolutions, and instead of thinking “well, time to cancel that gym membership I never used…”, you announce “vamanos a España!”. That’s right—you’re speaking conversational Spanish less than a month after New Year’s, and it’s all thanks to Babbel.

Forget the vocab flashcards, Babbel’s approach to learning is interactive and easy to make a habit. Babbel’s award-winning language lessons will have you speaking a new tongue in as little as 3 weeks, and you can get started with 65% off a lifetime subscription right here.

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Introducing: 1440 Health & Medicine

Historybook: Boxer Floyd Patterson born (1935); Biographer and journalist Doris Kearns Goodwin born (1943); Luna 1 is first spacecraft to reach vicinity of the moon (1959); Poet TS Eliot dies (1965); Burj Khalifa, tallest building in the world, opens in Dubai (2010).