...and visions of the converged future! Must have been the Consumer Electronics Show. Read all about it:

Doc Searls blogs two views of CES.

CNet News: "Maybe it's just a matter of bad caffeine management on my part, but it's hard for me to get worked up about a tech event where the stars are wristwatches and refrigerator magnets. But where else can you stand in a 5-mile-long taxi line while watching burly guys with pliers compete for the title of the world's top car-stereo installer?"

New York Times (reg reqd): "Despite the gloom in other slices of the economy, sales of consumer electronics in the United States actually grew last year (to a record $96 billion). This trade show of manufacturers, retailers and customers was alive with energy and crowded with exhibits. … It's only a matter of time before you'll see people rebooting their toasters."

Business 2.0: "Coolest gadget: In a move sure to resonate with Capt. Kirk and Trekkies worldwide, Microsoft unveiled an Internet-enabled wristwatch that can receive sports scores, traffic updates, and appointment reminders via an FM radio networking technology that the company calls DirectBand."

Houston Chronicle: "The missing pieces [of convergence], it turns out, have been wireless connectivity and hard drives."

Extreme Tech:  "As digital technology has evolved, the PC industry thought that it was the natural heir to the convergence of digital technology and traditional media. But if this year's CES is any indication, the large consumer electronics concerns will not simply go quietly into the night. There's too much at stake."

Also, Extreme Tech’s full show coverage is here.

Austin American-Statesman:  "In his first-ever appearance at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, [Michael] Dell said technology companies must do a better job of helping their customers if the consumer technology industry wants to continue to grow."

WinInformant:  "Gates’ [keynote speech] didn't measure up [to Steve Jobs’ at Macworld the week before]: If you break down his talk, you'll find that he primarily discussed previously released products or updates to those products. Gates mentioned only two truly new products: Media2Go, which is essentially a video version of Apple's iPod, and the Microsoft SPOT Watch. I can't get excited about a connected watch. (I had two of those Timex data watches years ago, by the way.)"

And "The Show's Theme Was ... TV. This year's CES was all about TVs. Big-screen TVs. Wide-screen TVs. High-Definition Television (HDTV) TVs. Flat-panel TVs. Plasma TVs. LCD TVs. Digital Light Processing (DLP) TVs."