Instead, we're left with hyperbolic review headlines that declare the place the best thing since free shampoo.

ENGADGET: This Is the Modem World: Review Sites Are Broken

"Dry shampoo is the best friend of a girl with bangs, " Ms. Atkin says.

WSJ: Stylist Jen Atkin on the Long and Short of Bangs

It's particularly brutal for tech (as opposed to, say, shampoo) companies, which at best can usually hope to set the pace for only about generation until they settle into a comfortable middle class.

CNN: Is Apple losing its cool?