NinjaSistah always comes back from CES with tschotkes of dubious need. One of the favorite giveaways these days is the now-ubiquitous thumb drive, which are about as useful as floppy disks.Truth is, most of the stuff that was shown off at CES are as worthless as the credit-card sized thumb drive she brought back. Sure, it looks all cool and thin, but you've got to clear so much space off your desk to use it that it's simply not worth the trouble.
There are a lot of other worthless things that were shown at CES. Here are some of the stuff you should just avoid:
Razer Destructor Gaming Mouse Pad: I don't mean to pick on Razer specifically, but the mouse pad is a whole class of products that you should completely avoid. Back when the computer mouse first became popular -- on the original circa 1984 Macintosh -- mouse pads were necessary if your desk had a slick surface. The little roller ball on the bottom would slip and slide, making mousing around difficult. But those roller ball mouse controllers are all gone now. The optical sensor of the new units don't need traction. They have difficulty only on a mirrored surface. So throw those mouse pads overboard -- they're just a waste of money.
Adesso WKB-3000UB Trackball Keyboard: A computer keyboard with a trackball! How 1991! Who in his right mind would want to go back to that decrepit technology? I had a trackball in an ancient Powerbook that needed constant cleaning. Once trackpads came out, I never looked back. And the newest trackpads from Apple have multi-touch technology. The only thing trackballs were good for was Millipede and Missle Command.
Mustek Wireless 15-Inch Digital Photo Frame: It's got Bluetooth and it plays MP3s and it's wireless and it's just stupid. You can get a nice, old picture frame at a garage sale for about 50 cents. You can print a nice, large image on an inkjet printer. And if you gotta have music, just unearth one of the old iPods you have hanging around the house and hide it with a tiny speaker behind the frame. You'll save a whole bunch of money.
Nyko Wireless Nunchuk: I like Nyko as a company, but to me this is a worthless product. Since I'm using both the Wii controller and nunchuk at the same time, they're never more than an arm's length away from each other. A wireless nunchuk requires that it contain batteries as well, something the wired nunchuk doesn't have. It's gotta be heavier, and it's gotta make your arms wearier faster.
XIAS USB Pen Drive: Don't let them fool you -- it's not a pen. It doesn't look like a pen. It doesn't contain ink, gel, charcoal or graphite. You can't use it to draw anything. Oh, sure, it's a USB drive. But if you're looking for a pen, don't fall for their lies. You can't ever use it as a pen.
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