As this is being written, there are quite a few engineers who are working hard to get new products to Las Vegas. Many of these products would not survive a day in the field, but can be made to work in the controlled conditions of a booth. In the past these prototypes were likely to be physically fragile, or require judiciously placed fans. A conscientious company could be relied on to eliminate these problems before the product was released. Now it's usually software that is full of bugs, most of which are discovered in the field.
Software seduces many to believe that more is better.
Unfortunately, many current designs lack perspective. The truly important suffers under the weight of unrefined new features. We end up with a fat Swiss Army Knife when we really need a single sharp blade. This emphasis on new is a genuine problem. There is no denying NAB's impact to our industry, but this importance can warp decisions.