Washington Post on the CES opening:

It's the dawn of the new year, the time when the computing industry trots out its finest gadgets and future innovations at major trade shows. Following on the heels of Macworld, the much-anticipated International Consumer Electronics Show starts today in Las Vegas. The last of the mega tech expos standing (at least in the U.S.), CES will feature more than 2,000 vendors and expects to draw 100,000 attendees.

But with the tech economy still lacking fireworks of past years, some of the electronics companies highlighting wares at the show are taking a more practical approach, embracing smaller gadgets. "They've taken the products and technologies we've grown to love and worked to make them friendlier, smarter and cheaper. That's not to say exhibitors aren't showcasing prototypes of future products or hinting at what might be the ooh-aah gadget in years to come. But even Microsoft founder Bill Gates ... didn't offer up anything earth-shattering," writes the San Jose Mercury News.

I sent to a couple of CES shows in the '80s: miles and miles of electronic doo-dads. I eventually went insane but I sure collected a lot of free cool stuff.