(Special Report) - Can you say boring? My question to CEA, the organizers of CES: what happened? CES 2008 was a terrible show with nothing exciting to show for it. The mood on the show floor was dull with the same old, same old gadgetry from last year. This is supposed to be the largest and most prominent platform for the technology industry and boredom is what we got. Everything from Bill Gates' last CES appearance before his retirement to minor updates to last year's products. What a disappointment and a waste of an usually worthwhile trip!

The general sentiment from show exhibitors was also fairly disappointing. It was more or less: "We have paid a lot of money to have a presence here, we know we are supposed to announce blockbuster technologies and products, so we have made unnoticeable changes to our 2007 product portfolio, updated their colors and bam, this is what we have for 2008. A bunch of flukes from last year." What a blah moment!

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In our talks with various industry experts who also encountered a similar sentiment, they blamed economic uncertainty as the cause of a lackluster CES. We are inclined to believe that. Ater all, it wasn't any one particular sector with an overall cold presence, it was one sector after another, maybe with an exception to digital media (think flat screen displays). With OLED, world's largest plasma, thin displays and the ongoing HD DVD and Blu-Ray fight, there was plenty to go around with digital media. Everything else, however, from wireless to gaming to peripherals to futuristic technologies was a turn off.

We just hope CES' value isn't diminishing for the industry. Naturally, more and more companies are opting to hold their exclusive press conferences to announce their updated product lines. So here's to a better 2009, CES. We truly hope to see you alive and kicking with a typical bustle that we have come to expect over the years.

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