CES vaporware is a tradition that goes back for decades.
The Commodore LCD was a portable computer that debuted far ahead of its time, at CES 1985. Its namesake screen, which could fold down for easier portability, was capable of displaying 80 characters on 16 lines.
In a brochure for the LCD, Commodore boasted of the computer's "unparalleled array of built-in applications" -- like a word processor, file manager, calculator and spreadsheets. It also included a 300 baud modem "to send and receive information whenever you want, wherever you are." And it would even run on batteries if needed.
But Commodore never released the device, reportedly because company management felt iffy about the future of LCD technology and portable computers in general.
CES launched some history-making devices -- and several major disasters.
