Sure, bloggers won’t be given press credentials for the show, but realistically, why would they be needed? If the blog’s a well-established one such as Gizmodo, it’s no big deal to get “industry affiliate” passes from one exhibitor or another that they’ve developed a relation with. After all, even CNET sponsored six “Backstage Pass” bloggers to attend CES this year.

That being said, you also have to realize that it isn’t an arbitrary decision that the CEA Media Center made. Their first priority is ensuring there’s adequate support to handle the legitimate media covering the show. With the large numbers of media attending this year (the numbers peaked at 1,300 for Saturday, January 8th), they already have a huge challenge without potentially opening the floodgates to the masses.