By Kevin Anderson BBC News Online reporter in Las Vegas

At the height of the internet boom every hotel room would be sold out in Las Vegas during the annual Comdex computer show.

Two years ago, I was here when the floor opened, and the swarm of people was incredible

Warren Meyers Comdex veteran

Traffic would be jammed, and companies would spend millions to get heard over the din of the hype in the overheated tech sector.

Last year, the 11 September attacks kept visitors and exhibitors away in droves.

This year, the hi-tech economy is still suffering from the hangover of the post-boom bust, and the future of Comdex is in doubt.

Comdex over the years

Warren Meyers is a 10-year veteran of Comdex.

"Two years ago, I was here when the floor opened, and the swarm of people was incredible," he said.

He remembers when a hotel room could not be had on the Vegas strip during Comdex for less than $189.

This year, the Hilton still had rooms open on the eve of the conference.

He remembers a year when electronics maker Philips rented 7,000 square feet (630 sq metres) of exhibition space and Xerox was spending $1m a day on its Comdex exhibition.

Exhibitors admit it has been a difficult year

He remembers there was one year where e-commerce vendors took over the massive Sands Hotel.

"Three years after that show, probably 95% of those companies that presented that year are gone," he said.

And Key3Media, organisers of Comdex might join the list of dot.com casualties.

"Obviously, it's been another difficult year," Frederic Rosen, chairman and CEO of Key3Media, told reporters at a Comdex media preview. The company's stock is trading for a cent, and it was recently delisted from a major stock exchange.

There are whispers on the expo floor that this will be the last year for Comdex. Key3Media is looking for a buyer, but no one is biting.

Two years ago, as the Internet boom began its spectacular collapse, some 2,300 exhibitors paid for space at Comdex. This year, there will some 1,000 exhibitors.

Tech's rise and fall

These are just some of the changes over the years. The industry has seen many companies rise and fall.

We are a technological society, and we're still going to do business on the internet

William Ward Comdex visitor

Mr Rosen remembers when Lotus was the big software company and a little company called Microsoft exhibited at Comdex in a tent in the parking lot.

The industry has undergone unimaginable change in its brief history.

William Ward of Nashville Tennessee sets up computer systems for churches.

He has been coming to Comdex since the 1970s and has been selling computers even before there was a Comdex.

In those days, buying a personal computer meant ordering it, waiting six to eight months for the parts for delivery and then building it at home with a soldering iron.

And the honour of having your very own personal computer would cost several thousand dollars.

His first computer had a whole kilobyte of RAM, expansive at the time but unimaginably small by today's standards when computers are shipping with 512 megabytes of RAM.

As for storage, it was not about hard drives but rather programmes stored on paper tape.

To a degree that buzz has gone from Comdex he said, but he adds the high-tech economy will rebound.

"You have to understand. We are a technological society, and we're still going to do business on the internet," he said.

Technology continues to advance, and he believes that Comdex will continue to be relevant.

"The people who are in the know, the people who have the vision to see into the future, realise they have to come here to see what other people are doing," he said.