Are open houses worth your time or are they a thing of the past?

In today's market it is questionable if it is worth the time it takes to conduct an open house or if there is a better alternative.  There are still many realtors doing open houses on a regular basis and I am sure that it is going to be that way for quite some time to come.  However, only about 10% of home buyers find their home by going to open houses.  Most people find their home by either working directly with a realtor or by going on line and searching the internet.  Of course it could be argued that people whom go to open houses are more focused buyers and sellers whom want to see what is out there by actually seeing it in person.  Another benefit of conducting an open house is that it does not cost anything other than time and if you are doing something when you are not busy then it may even be of greater benefit.  I would suggest taking your laptop and a wireless card to the open house with you.  This actually benefits an agent in more than one way.  First, you can be working on other things such as putting out ads on the internet and checking email.  Second, you can show people homes other than the one that you are showing by allowing them to see homes on the laptop.  In my opinion an open house can be beneficial if you are meeting people or if it gives you time to do other work.  The biggest thing is that you are not wasting time as long as you are doing something.  I know that there have been many agents that have made a great deal of money by conducting open houses so it does work for at least some people.  It is like anything else.  If you know how to work an open house then you are probably going to make money doing it.