But Google co-founder Sergey Brin's presentation at TED, in which he characterized wearing Google Glass as somehow more macho than pulling your smartphone out of your pocket, underscores the tone-deafness that can envelop Silicon Valley when VIPs get a little too excited about the Next Big Thing.

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Explore: Tiny Point Arena isn't exactly booming, but nearby are sand dunes, pocket beaches, the Point Arena Light Station, and the great Pinots of Anderson Valley.

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For him, the pocket-sized device is to 3Com what the Java programming language is to Sun, a Silicon Valley computer firm: the crown jewels.

ECONOMIST: 3Com