CES 2013: as big as ever, but is it out of date?

The world's biggest consumer technology expo opened on Tuesday to a familiar scene: thousands of gadget buffs streaming down Paradise Road to the cavernous Las Vegas convention centre, eager to glimpse the devices and trends of the future.

For the next four days the Consumer Electronics Show will unveil technological advances and launch 20,000 products and prototypes – a vast bazaar showcasing new phones, new televisions, new tablets, new everything.

"Oh my God, I can't believe I'm here!" squealed a voice as crowds surged through the doors. Tweets from those visiting the booths of Samsung and the like declared them "awesome" and "amazing".

The event is as big as ever: around 150,000 industry professionals – entrepreneurs, executives, designers, bloggers – crawling over 1.85m sq ft of exhibition space. The chief executive of mobile chip maker Qualcomm, Paul Jacobs, who delivered the keynote speech on Monday night, said its wares would change the world. "There are almost as many mobile connections as people on earth. Pretty soon mobile connections will outnumber us."

But there is a problem. Sceptics say that the world has changed faster than CES, that the pre-eminence of the internet and software has marginalised an event still tethered mainly to hardware, and that CES is sliding into limbo as a consequence.

Wired, the technology magazine, declared on the convention's eve: "As software matters more and more, CES matters less and less. The internet is already the world's largest trade show. Gadget blogs are the new conventions.

"Sure, big electronics shows offer the opportunity to meet people and forge relationships. But even that transaction is being moved online in the era of real-time social media."

Hardware has become increasingly meaningless as upgrade cycles accelerate and spread across platforms, it argues, citing the Nokia Lumia 900, a flagship phone hailed as the next big thing at last year's CES. It was a hardware triumph but disappeared after Microsoft announced Windows Phone 8, rendering the Lumia, which used Windows Phone 7.5, obsolete.

Wired at least sent reporters to Las Vegas. The news site BuzzFeed boycotted and published a story headlined "Why We're Not at the Biggest Tech Show in the World."

After years of dwindling relevance CES was no longer the most important place to go to see trends in technology, it said. "Seriously doesn't the word 'electronics' in the conference's dusty title make your eyes instantly droop a bit?"

One problem raised by the news site BuzzFeed was the event's focus on hardware at the expense of software and services. The other was that social media had displaced traditional conventions as forums to showcase products and ideas. It noted that none of the four technology companies which "truly matter to people" – Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google – were exhibiting at the expo.

For years Microsoft's chief executive, Steve Ballmer, had given the keynote speech at the Venetian resort hotel. But the company pulled out this year, handing the job to Jacobs of Qualcomm. In his speech Jacobs exuded optimism and said "Gen M" – generation mobile – would keep the industry humming. He underlined his point by unveiling Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 800 Series processor. Due on the market this summer, it should improve the performance of smartphones and cars and give rival Intel a run for its money. And as if to rebuff accusations of dwindling relevance, Jacobs spiced up his speech with eclectic celebrity guests. Director Guillermo del Toro came on stage to show a clip of his new robot film, Pacific Rim, streaming it from a tablet that uses a new Qualcomm chip.

"Snapdragon ensures the film you see will be viewed exactly as I want it to be seen. When you're watching a great film, you want a great experience."

The Nascar driver Brad Keselowski displayed an app which lets fans follow drivers during races. The actor Alice Eve lauded a new app for her new film, Star Trek: Into Darkness. Big Bird from Sesame Street appeared to plug an app which helps children with vocabulary. For the industry audience the biggest and most welcome surprise was Microsoft's Ballmer, who made a cameo to talk up the tech giant's new generation tablets and smartphones.

This week's CES is expected to be dominated by ultra HD TVs, supersized smartphones, acrobatic PCs and sensors which replace the mouse by tracking gestures and eye movements. If any of that catches on CES will claim, as ever, that you saw the future here first.