What do you think about string theory?

I do research in the field, and am interested in the perception that people outside of the physics community have of the theory. There have been a number of flurries of publicity for the theory (see “The Elegant Universe”, “Not Even Wrong”, “The Trouble with Physics”), from which I suspect it is very hard to construct a realistic picture of what the status of the field really is. I’d also be interested to know what forms the basis for your current opinion.