valleywag - Attendance at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, the annual gadgetfest in Las Vegas, is down 25 percent from 2007, with 130,000 expected to attend. Are we just not that into tech toys anymore?
Actually, we are — but the thrill is gone.
The two biggest attractions at the show — Microsoft Steve Ballmer's demo of Windows 7 and Palm's Pre smartphone — are more apologies than anything, mea culpas for the subpar products they replaced. There are, as always, gee-whiz products that will likely never hit the mass market, like Dick Tracy-style watches and games where you control a ball with your mind.
For the past decade, gadget porn — media which seductively presents the latest gear — has been a growth industry. When Wired first started showcasing gadgets as erotically charged objects of desire in the '90s, not for nothing was the section called "Fetish." (The love affair sometimes went hilariously wrong.)
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