iPad, Google Buzz, 3-D TV: ‘meh’?

Digital Home- msnbc.com: "Apple's iPad has generated a “meh” reaction by and large, although we’ll know for sure once it goes on sale in March. Google’s Buzz, in less than 24 hours, generated a lot of negative buzz, including some resistance to yet another social networking tool. 3-D TV is on the push list this year, but consumer interest is mixed at best.

Is 'tech fatigue' setting in? As in, 'If they announce one more change to Facebook...' 'Why are they coming out with another new kind of TV when I just bought an HDTV last year?' and 'I already have a (fill in the blank: netbook, laptop, smartphone) and don't need an iPad.' Or are tighter wallets to blame for lack of excitement about new products?

Those wallets have been strained mightily the past year or so. Still, sales of consumer technology for the last quarter of 2009 were a 'huge improvement' over the the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a recent report from the NPD Group.

While overall consumer technology revenue in 2009 was down by almost 5 percent from the year before, 'that should not be taken as a sign that consumers were not buying' the market research company said. The personal tech industry sold more than 1 billion 'devices, gadgets, and accessory products.'"