There have been some good suggestions so far. The best one is to change the date of the Expo. Too close to Apple's developers conference would put unnecessary stress on vendors and attendees alike. October would be a good time in my opinion - close enough to the end of the year for Christmas shopping, but not conflicting with Thanksgiving travel in November. And it would be late enough to attract seasonally focused product announcements.

The second best idea is going virtual. It's where the trends are heading. But the virtual show would not substitute for or replace the live one. Rather, the two modes need to be integrated in a user and vendor friendly manner. The virtual Expo would amplify the actual show, widening its reach and increasing it's depth.

Making at least some of the conference sessions available in live internet streams (at affordable prices) would be a step in the right direction. They could be made interactive via e-mail and Twitter - though this would require someone to monitor those streams and feed the content selectively to the presenter - much as a radio producer does for the host on a call in talk show. Some television shows now do a form of this in post broadcast online sessions between viewers and on-air personalities. It's the coming thing, as they say.

Likewise, you might provide online access to vendors. They could interact in real time with potential customers through the Macworld web site during show hours. Of course, you would need to set up a special section of the Macworld site (or a standalone site - as the show is produced by an independent division of IDG) just for the show and provide the bandwidth to support it. Imagine users visiting show floor booths remotely, getting a taste of the expo and talking with vendors much as they do when they are there in person. IChat and Skype could provide the audio and video connections until web browsers can do the same, as they now support live text chat with some product tech support staff. Apple does some of this now, in fact. I had a productive session a few weeks ago - with no phone charges.

Every tragedy also provides an opportunity. It takes initiative and imagination to find the open window after a door has closed, to borrow a new-age metaphor. But Macworld Expo does not have to die because Apple is leaving. It will have to find alternative means to prosper. Some changes would have been necessary in any case, eventually, even if Apple had stayed. The market as well as the technology is evolving.

Indeed, if the Expo can weather the current economic downturn and hold on till the economy is healthy again, and make itself a more relevant and attractive venue in the meantime, who's to say Apple won't find it desirable to return a few years down the road? Wouldn't that be a coup?

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Don't anthropomorphize computers - They hate that.

Apple's withdrawal notwithstanding I was figuring that for the future the other big guys need to step up to the plate with more presentations like the one's I always go to first, Adobe and Epson. Viola! They were AWOL. I'm not optimistic.

I've been attending Macworld Expo/Conference since the early 90's and have seen a LOT of evolution happen over the years!

There were years that Apple's presence there was ho-hum compared to others (remember Power Computing?) - before the return of Jobs. And quite frankly I usually avoid the Apple booth unless there's something I really have to see in person (like the multi-"flavored" iMacs lined up in a row years back)

As others have stated here, it isn't all about Apple - it's about the people - people gathered in one place tied by a common bond. They love Macs and want everything they can from them.

Perhaps Apple can let a VAR represent their latest hardware/software offerings in future Macworlds, but I really hope that you do keep moving forward - and perhaps concentrate a bit more on the Conference Sessions and make them affordable. Give a little something back to the speakers as well and you'll attract more.

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Jeff Foster - the PixelPainter Blog - http://AfterEffectsandPhotoshop.com