Unboxing

Not expecting much of a haul this holiday season? At least you can still enjoy the pleasure of watching other people open things:

"Dozens of videos showing people unwrapping products like the new Palm Treo 680 smartphone, Microsoft Zune digital media player and the Nintendo Wii game player are appearing on YouTube, on blogs and popular technology sites. The videos are drawing thousands of viewers.

"Two Web sites devoted to box-opening videos have sprung up: unbox.it and unboxing.com. The latter promises 'vicarious thrills from opening new gear.'"

These thrills are not just for traditional techies, either. Gizmodo points out that "unboxing your wife's breast pump" is also an option.