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2007: not your grandpa's boxspring

Barron's says that sales of memory-foam mattresses are skyrocketing. The disadvantage of memory foam is that performing "the act" is very challenging:

"It's like trying to do it in quicksand," one owner writes on an Internet message board. New York sex therapist Sari Eckler Cooper couldn't be clearer: "There's a lack of resistance for the knees and feet. And whoever is on the bottom is sinking into the bed."

Sales figures don't lie:

mattress shoppers are weighing the risk -- bad sex -- against the promise -- good sleep -- and are voting with their eyelids: They choose to snooze.

Five years ago, we splurged on a pricey alternative to foam, the Select Comfort adjustable bed. The air mattress technology does not envelop the user as much as foam does but still makes for a good sleep. As for the other dimension, well, I can't speak to that because I'm out when the head hits the pillow.