3D is not a scam, it is just being done badly. One problem is that producers and directors are used to working in 2D and changing to 3D requires different composition and filming. This problem is similar to the change from B&W to color, the directors were using shading to set the drama in B&W and using the same techniques in color did not work as well.

Even further back, the change from silent films to sound tracks on film changed the way the audience percieved the actors. Some silent film actors that were wildly popular could not make the change to sound because their voices did not fit the sound expected by the audience.

3D done well can be a very immersive experience, 3D done badly will cause eyestrain and headaches. There are also the 3D gimmicks such as pointing an object at the audience that was lampooned by Second City Television many times.

It would be better to point to the successful 3D movies and games than to brand the whole thing as a scam. It will take time for the industry to work out better ways to view 3D and that is happening now. What the 3D movie industry needs is a director with the caliber of Hitchcock to craft the scenes to have depth that pulls the audience into the film combined with technology that gives the audience feeling that they are viewing a natural form of 3D.