And an industry that has historically equated complicated with cool is starting to change. A few companies, tuned in to the waves of consumers tuning out, are beginning to rethink things. Simple, they believe, may now be the ticket that sells. They're fed up. The revolt is being felt at the cash register, which cast a pall on this week's Consumer Electronics Show, the huge annual gathering in Las Vegas where more than 1,800 vendors display their latest goodies.
Sales are anything but brisk, compounding the disappointment of a sluggish holiday season.
Analysts blame this on a slowing economy, but some say that's not the only culprit. I think it's a con. This year, Paton is just browsing, and he's not alone. The slump in sales is driving the point about simplicity home to a growing number of manufacturers. In that spirit, the company now is promoting its new Internet appliance, fetchingly named Audrey, that lets owners surf the Web or check E-mail.