Serial and Parallel ports are still important if you are running around a factory floor. That is also why still got a T400 and X201 in working order, because over their card slots I can still can get a good serial port.

- There are 30 million Raspberry pi's sold worldwide and at least a quarter of a million Arduino boards, even more so if you add the clones and knock offs. There is a world of non-professional 'consumer grade' makers and hobbyist that would love to have a more diverse offering in consumer electronics.

instead CES just feels more and more like the Auto trade shows where cars keep converging to more and more homogenous things and designers risk less and less, at some point you are just changing branding and not much else because all the components come from the same handful of suppliers.

Corporations have stopped taking risks that much is apparent.