CES 2018: less 'whoa', more 'no!' – tech fails to learn from its mistakes at annual pageant

From finicky robots to a not-so-smart suitcase, this year's Consumer Electronics Show found an industry out of touch with the problems it really needs to solve

It's standing room only in a swirly-carpeted room at the conference centre attached to the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. There's a sea of technology journalists, mostly men, with name badges dangling from lime green lanyards and clear plastic backpacks (a conference freebie) reminiscent of a 1990s Gwen Stefani. Dubstep starts playing.

"CES 2017 brought the whoa," appears on screen, followed by a sequence of fast-cut shots of robots, drones and VR headsets. "This year we're turning things up. So get ready for more whoa than ever before."