Certainly conferences have a drinking problem. I've been to conferences in many industries: Software, Consumer Products, Consulting, Financial Services... There are very hung over audiences in each.

I think the common theme is you have two audiences: Young people who like to party and overdo it, and old people who have a rare night out and inadvertantly overdo it.

I don't have empirical numbers, but I'd say many (half?) of the folks attending major multi-day conferences will have at least one rough morning.

Hard to pin this on just technology. And many folks don't act this way at home. (With small kids, anything more than 2 drinks can become an issue)