only folks in the technology trade or press can attend ces. if you can’t show up wearing a tie, then you must at least don a sensible blue dress shirt.
ces
iPhone sleeve-maker Incipio, says it is decamping for CES in 2010
purely because Apple won’t be at Expo to anchor attendance.
Other exhibitors, like software outfit Rogue Amoeba, aren’t thrilled
that Apple’s gone missing but are nonetheless keeping a toe in
the Expo water, Apple or no Apple. Says CEO Paul Kafasis about
Apple’s absence, “I don’t think it’s a great thing for the show or the
community, but I think at least this year it’ll still be a pretty big show.”
Kafasis also says he hasn’t been swayed by CES’s Mac overtures,
and Rogue Amoeba is keeping out of CES next year and for the
foreseeable future. “We looked at CES briefly,” Kafasis says. “It’s kind
of insane, and that’s putting it mildly. It’s not a Mac crowd, it’s a tech
crowd. We make Mac products. Even if attendance is three times as
high at CES, it’s probably not worth it for us.”
A roughly 20 percent discount on 2010 Macworld Expo floor space
probably didn’t hurt his decision to stay put, either.
Naturally, Expo management has been playing off Apple’s
departure as merely “disappointing,” and Paul Kent, General
Manager of IDG World Expo, which produces the show, says Expo is
on track to do well, with 28,000 attendees preregistered at press
time, and 100 of an expected 300-plus exhibitors already signed up
for booth space. Kent says a renewed focus on education sessions
should help keep attendees engaged in the absence of the man in
the black turtleneck, and he notes that Expo remains “the only real
opportunity for Mac people to see each other face to face.” When
asked if the show would keep on keepin’ on, he doesn’t even hesitate.
“Absolutely the show will continue on. No question.”
SHOW MACWORLD EXPO
Home Base San Francisco, the
Cradle of Counter-
Culture
Eccentric Mac
enthusiast festooned
with Apple regalia, tie-dye, and schwag bags
A pleasant hum
Nevertheless, if history is any guide, Macworld has its work cut out
for it. In 2004, Apple pulled out of the East Coast installment of Expo.
By 2005, the show was dead for good.—Christopher Null
Macworld Expo vs CES:
Compare & Contrast
CES
Las Vegas, the Den of
Depravity
Typical
aTTendee
Background
noise
Boo TH BaBe
FacTor
aFTer-Hours
Disheveled businessman
navigating through a
sea of 500,000 other
disheveled businessmen
Cacophony, madness,
cars that go boom
Almost nonexistent Mostly moderate, but
high in the car stereo
pavilion
Vendor-sponsored party
at Tao (until 10pm when
they kick out the geeks
and let the beautiful
people in)
“Oooo! Where did you
get that Belkin-branded
propeller beanie?! Are
they free?!”
“For the last time: It is a
physical impossibility for
me to be in the South
Hall within 90 seconds.”
Apple’s latest gear,
Apple’s stock price,
Steve’s “mood”
The booth where the
women aren’t wearing
any pants
Drinks with friends
at the W, then a good
night’s sleep
overHeard
sHow Floor
Buzz
