Although Comdex '96 was bigger, that didn't make it any better than it ever has been. Techno-hype was still cresting last year; now the industry is simply looking for cold hard cash.

If Softbank wants the smorgasbord to become anything more than a company-paid excuse to gamble in Las Vegas, it should take some hints from E3, the electronic mega-entertainment expo held annually in Atlanta.

Get a few high-quality booths along with some celebrity appearances (other than scantily clad adult movie stars) to add that Hollywood touch.

Then maybe the show wouldn't seem like such a overwrought ham radio fest.

 1. Push
 2. Windows CE
 3. 56K
 4. Cable Modem
 5. Web-TV
 6. Net Magazines
 7. Apple's Demise
 8. Mac Clones
 9. E-Cash
10. Comdex '96

 1. Dynamic HTML
 2. New Domains
 3. Metered Bandwidth
 4. Web-TV
 5. Rich Ads
 6. The Big Chill
 7. Middlemen
 8. Digital Detente
 9. Cybercommerce
10. Web standards