[Macworld]

Post your comments for The ever-evolving Macworld Expo here

[UlfDahlen]

Good article. I have attended the conference many times and it has almost always been very good. Macworld without the conference would be a regular trade show, one that I could understand Apple would want to skip in the future. But I fear Apple's decision may doom the conference, and that Apple is in fact doing much damage by withdrawing.

[scfischer]

Great article Peter. I have very much enjoyed reading the Macworld Magazine staff's take on the end of an era. I have also read in recent years, and really enjoyed your articles on the state of Mac gaming as it pertains to the expo and how much exposure it gets. Do you think, with less major players and more space available (especially when Apple's booth is gone in 2010), there will be an increased size of the gaming booths? Perhaps even in the main hall? This might be a welcome side effect of this major shakeup.

[carldec]

It will be very interested to see what happens to MacWorld.
As an attendee since 1985, a speaker at over 20 MacWorld and an ex Apple employee, I have never thought that MacWorld was about Apple itself. For me it has always been about the small 3rd party companies that scrape together enough cash for a 10 by 10 booth along the walls so that they can show the rabid mac community their latest cool thing.
If they can generate some buzz early in the week, they can get into some of the later conference sessions, get written about by the journalists and bloggers. But the big thing is that the rest of the industry learns about them. This can lead to partnerships and joint deals that can mean everything for small companies. The players in these companies getting together over dinner or at parties leads to all sorts of collaborations. These kind of deals come from face to face meetings and really cant be done as well on the net.
It was always fun to come back the next year and see the folks that were successful... they now have a 20x20 and twice the number of employees. For me, these guys are what made the show so vibrant over the years.
I think it will be up to IDG to figure out ways to survive the Apple pull out. I think one way of doing this will be to refocus on the little guys. Make it easier for a bunch of small companies to come to the show next year. Encourage the large companies to provide space in their booths, get folks like MacTech, Adobe, MicroSoft to sponsor larger pavilions for developers, lower the cost of a 10x10. Work on ways to lower the overall cost of developers coming to the show... housing coops, special signage deals, special printed materials deals, perhaps even work with one of the booth rental folks to figure out how to make things cheaper for the little guys.
IDG should put a package together outlining all the ways that a small developer can be a big part of the 2010 MacWorld Expo and then make a big splash at the WWDC and make sure every single attendee knows about it. I would hire a few folks right now to be a developer outreach team so that you will have the programs in place and people needed to pull this off.
If IDG can avoid a general collapse, MacWorld may go on for a long long time. I will be rooting for you..
Carl de Cordova

[Bubowski]

I have been at every single Macworld except for one and I hop they continue. It's always my way to get re-energized for the new year, and gives me a chance to reignite my enthusiasm after a year's worth of long hours.
I won't be missing Apple that much if MW Expo survives, In fact, I have been pretty much skipping the grossly-oversized booth the past two years. I think they should maintain a reduced presence with a rationally-sized booth, but if not, I am hoping that IDG will still be able to keep it going... so I've got my fingers crossed.

[nealp]

Great article Peter! I, like many other Mac Faithful are concerned over Apples pull out of Macworld Expo 2010, but if enough people like myself and the others that have posted here attend then the show will go out.
Like Bubowski above wrote, I too have been mostly skipping Apple's large booth the past couple of years, so not having them will seem odd but hopefully it will be an opportunity for all the other developers and vendors to get more exposure.

[mgjones]

I have attended every MacWorld and managed to squeak into almost every keynote. This tradition is something that most people, including my wife, cannot understand (my corrected me, she says she does understand but thinks I am obsessed). It would be great for IDG to move forward and create a next generation conference that would focus on the elements mentioned by others: the developers in the 10x10 booths, the conference presentations and classes and the opportunity to congregate with fellow macfolk. I wonder where most of the profit is generated, the people who pay for the classes, the 1000s who just show up to walk the aisles or the big booths of the big companies?

[UlfDahlen]

Having thought about this for a couple of days, I'm still very disappointed in Apple. It seems to be a very selfish move by them. They don't care about the larger community at all, only their own narrow interests.
I very much hope that Macworld Conf & Expo can live on in some form. If IDG can put together an interesting conference program, and some good speakers (there are many interesting people who could deliver a keynote), I might come back in 2010.

[Ilgaz]

It is up to companies. IMHO Adobe also made the biggest mistake by not attending. When/Where will they show their expensive upgrades? For example, they could set some very high end (8x core/ Xserve grid) machines and show the parallel processing power of their products.
Will they rely on iMacs at Apple stores? Or people pirating their products (generally amateurs) and wonder around saying CS4 is not that big upgrade? I think Adobe guys could explain to actual professionals, customers about what kind of enhancement in professional/business sense their CS4 will achieve.
I don't know about USA but the people at Apple stores here are not that "genius" and they get really confused if you ask about high end/ professional software, solutions. You end up "teaching" them all the time. Apple stores can't replace a professional oriented expo with a focused group of people.
By pulling out, they also give message "Don't take us serious, we do iPod, iMac and iPhone which you can see at stores".
Macintosh really needs a good conference with workshops, people not being afraid to critique certain developments, people who can share their experience and if SDK didn't change, iPhone devs really need to gather too.
Very good idea indeed.

[Peter Cohen]

Ilgaz said:

It is up to companies. IMHO Adobe also made the biggest mistake by not attending.

That's where I disagree with you. Adobe still has a big presence at the show, in the Power Tools Conference where they belong. Adobe isn't interested in talking with people who forked over $15 or $25 for an Exhibits Hall only pass, because they are, by and large, a waste of the company's resources.

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I don't know about USA but the people at Apple stores here are not that "genius" and they get really confused if you ask about high end/ professional software, solutions. You end up "teaching" them all the time. Apple stores can't replace a professional oriented expo with a focused group of people.

Amen. Apple's One To One training program is actually an excellent value, but many of the Apple Store employees involved in those programs have a somewhat limited curriculum. Go outside their realms of expertise, and you'll see their experience drop dramatically. And that only makes sense -- if you're well-rounded enough to use high-end pro tools efficiently, chances are you can make a lot more money doing that for a living than you can working in an Apple Store.

What's more, companies like Adobe increasingly focus on events that are specific to their products and services. PhotoshopWorld, for example, is once again coming to Boston next March. That's an entire population of event-goers specifically focused just on one Adobe product. With a focused customer base like that, what's Adobe's incentive to attend a general-purpose computer show?

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Macintosh really needs a good conference with workshops, people not being afraid to critique certain developments, people who can share their experience and if SDK didn't change, iPhone devs really need to gather too.

Yeah, Macintosh has that. :) It's called Macworld Expo. And iPhone devs have that too. It's called WWDC.

[amadeopuzzo]

Great article and a great point of view, Peter. I was wondering if you'd do that apple logo just one more time this year, just for old times' sake. People need to know that before you were famous for your work at Macworld magazine, you were famously appearing in every attending photographer's work around the world, as that guy with the apple logo on his head. Ah, let's wax nostalgic for just a moment more.

[Peter Cohen]

Not a chance. :) I shave my head, so there's nothing to dye anymore. And I'm not willing to concede at this point that Macworld Expo is done for -- just that I fear for its long-term health with Apple's absence. I earnestly hope that I'll be proven wrong in 2010 and beyond.

I think it's Frank Sinatra who was credited with saying "the best revenge is massive success." I'd like nothing more than to see IDG World Expo take that to heart with this show. :)

[Schneb]

Peter Cohen said:

I'm not willing to concede at this point that Macworld Expo is done for -- just that I fear for its long-term health with Apple's absence. I earnestly hope that I'll be proven wrong in 2010 and beyond.

Done for? I don't think so. However, it will/should evolve. It needs to become more product and user-centric rather than a one-trick-pony for Apple. To me, it was just becoming that. I hope now that it will be a forum and platform for new products to have the stage.

Personally, I would like to see a forum where users have a better voice in showing Apple where there products are breaking down. Not sure how to frame this rant, but it seems as if Apple has developed a "love it or lump it" attitude toward their most devoted fan-base. It's like a beloved sit-com that has "jumped the shark". This, of course, is all IMHO.

[amadeopuzzo]

I'm of the opinion that the show will thrive. It may refocus the energy and intent but I think it will go on.