Wi-Fi

The promise: Since hitting the market in the late '90s, this wireless technology lets us surf the Web without having to be connected to the Internet via wires. According to the hype, Wi-Fi hotspots are everywhere, from airports and coffee shops to hotel rooms, public parks, and the entire house.

Why It's overrated: The Wi-Fi routers used to blast out those wireless signals, not to mention the wireless modems in our laptops and other devices (from Tivos, and Nintendo Wiis to cell phones and cameras) can be fickle and unreliable. How many times has your Wi-Fi just suddenly stopped working for no reason -- sure, a quick restart of your router can often fix the problem, but try telling your grandmother how to do that. Also, Wi-Fi simply isn't as ubiquitous as the Wi-Fi-evangelists would have you believe -- we find ourselves constantly locked out of password protected hotspots at airports and other public places.

Bottom line: Despite its flaws, Wi-Fi has certainly changed our lives by letting us work remotely on the road or at the local cafe -- when it works or is available. Besides, for now, it's still the only game in town. We've found that our subscription to Boingo Wireless, which gives us access to over 100,000 Wi-Fi hotspots around the world for $9.95 a month, has helped us with the public Wi-Fi access, though not nearly as much as we had expected (every little bit counts when you need to get online). For a list of free and paid hotspots around the world, check out JiWire.