“After this year’s showing, I doubt we’ll ever see another Macworld Expo,” John C. Dvorak writes for PC Magazine.
“Apple bailed out of the show unceremoniously, and amongst those exhibitors who did show, hardly any of the products were Mac-related,” Dvorak writes. “They ought to rename it the iPhone Expo—or just shutter the event entirely”
“Apple, for its part, doesn’t need an Expo,” Dvorak writes. “The company has retail stores, which serve as mini-expos all around the country.”
MacDailyNews Note: A video of Dvorak walking the show’s floor is here.
Dvorak writes, “Macworld 2010 may mark the end of the personal computer experiment that began in 1975. Thirty-five years is a pretty good run, but make no mistake, the scene has slipped completely, as PCs and Macs have become household items.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This is the way the Macworld ends, not with a bang but a whimper.
So in another words, there will be one next year!
Dvorak is an idiot. This event was a place to see the entire Mac universe in one place. What new Mac software and hardware was available.
Apple stores do not replace this at all.
Apple could easily afford to exibit at these events. Just like the Mobile convention that just happened.
O find it rather arrogant of Apple to ignore these events.
Makes sense…
He’s right. they’re a waste of time and money. I also hope Apple dropsmthe over hyped and prentious press conferences. All we need is the normal press release and those spiffy videos. if the MacWorld folks were on their game they would create a year round virtual MacWorld trade show that we could
visit 24×7 365.
Apple doesn’t need Mac World. They dominate CES without even showing up. Why bother?
MacWorld was great this year, and I’m going next year! Without Apple overshadowing the event, it really was about connecting with the vendors, which was always the best part of MacWorld anyways. (Plus the training sessions as well.)
I was at MacWorld and I hate to admit it but I agree with Dvorak on the one point that MacWorld is dead. However, I believe an Apple Expo would be valuable and well attended. All the vendors are not at the Apple Stores and you can only get a hands on experience at an Expo. It is also good PR. I have gone 15 to 20 times and enjoyed it. It is my tech vacation. I think about 50,000 other attendees would agree.
Dvorak said the same thing in 1997 when Apple chose Next and Steve Jobs over BeOS.
Play it again John.
I doubt that he was even there.
It was smaller, but for the Expo exhibitors that showed up, I think it was worthwhile. In terms of people-density, it was more crowded compare to last year. In some places, it was hard to walk around without dumping into others.
> hardly any of the products were Mac-related
That’s not true. I thought there was a higher percentage of Mac-related exhibitors, compared to last year’s iPod/iPhone-case-fest.
It’s possible that IDG World Expo did not make money on this, so they may not have any more Macworld expos. But I wouldn’t be too surprised if there was one next year.
http://www.cultofmac.com/macworld-vendors-delighted-about-turnout-brisk-business/30225
I had a good time, and I’d go again (but I do live nearby).
Mark my words, there WILL be a Macworld expo next year; or there WON’T be one; one or the other, maybe there will be an expo, but maybe not. But it’s one of those two, nothing else. I’m sure of it. And I’m always right.
Mostly.
Macworld, get ready for record crowds next year. The Dvorak has spoken.
Sooo, MDN agrees with Dvorak on something??
I haven’t been to one since 1996. Have I missed anything?
I was there. It was a great show. Yes, it was smaller, but it ended up being fine. I got a lot out of it. Great sessions. Bought stuff on the show floor. Looking forward to next year.
” People—newcomers especially—constantly fail to backup their machines properly. Whoever can seriously automate that process out of the box will make a fortune.”
Ah John… it’s been done. It’s called TimeMachine.
Thanks for playin.
This was the 14th Macworld I have attended. Yes this year was different that last year, but the last three years were different that the previous ten. Change is inevitable for any living thing and this community is a living thing.
Yes, there were lots of vendors selling iPod, iPhone products. No, there were not large booths dominating and partitioning Moscone. But the vendors that were there were doing very lively business. Of the ones I asked, all said they were seeing high traffic.
This year I spent more than in the IT conferences than I had in the past, because the information was better. Those session were full, with tech professionals jotting notes, recording presentations and asking relevant questions.
Maybe it should be renamed the “Apple Expo” or the “iGeek Expo”, but ended? Hardly!
This conference is the last of it’s kind, I rumor has it, the only one IDG has consistently profited on. If this is failure, then “War is Peace” Freedom is Slavery” and “Ignorance is Strength.”
@ sn:
I think hell just froze over.
No snide MDN take…
no derisive slagging…
nothing
in it’s place, agreement
I feel so disappointed.
Just because it is Dvorak saying that, there will be a lot more Macworld Expos!!!
@ Laszlo
Exactly! Time now to get your reservation for next year. Prime exhibition spaces will be going fast!
BTW, MDN, where was the Think before you click.™ disclaimer?
I attended this year, and while I’m not going to agree with Dvorak, ‘cuz he’s a total douche, the Expo seriously needs to do some work to reinvent itself.
Vendors were there as well as attendees. But for me, it really lacked any excitement or enthusiasm. They were missing some big guns – like Adobe & it still felt like the iPhone show.
I’d really love for it to get back to its Mac user roots as I really feel these kind of shows serve a great purpose. They get Mac users together & small vendors can show off their wares – but they need some big players to generate enthusiasm.
MacWorld has been redundant ever since Apple pulled out of the Boston MacWorld show. Apple certainly doesn’t need MacWorld and all the MacWorld security leaks that preempted it’s new product announcements in the past few years, which were a big reason it decided to control it’s own events and environments.
That makes it official then. MacWorld 2011 is on.
MacWorld is much better without Apple. Without them its a Mac expo with them you end up with 70% of the vendors being iPhone iPod based.
I think with the attendance being what it was, expect other vendors to return to the show next year, even without Apple being there. From what I gather it was still a bonafide success.
What? Now your taking Dvorak’s word on what the future will bring?
I have no dog in this fight. But I don’t think MacWorld isn’t dead yet.
I love how people are saying “Apple should be at these shows”.
With what, a $1500 mini table? For a company like apple they need huge spaces alone would eat up 50-100k. Plus staff, etc.
I’m sure they have done the math and it’d not worth it.
The viewpoint of these anti-MacWorld posts and replies is rather myopic.
They belong to the mythological and absurd “build a better mousetrap” view that is blind to a basic fact… that building a better whatever does not equate to people buying the better whatever.
People have to “know” about the better whatever before they can buy it.
Press releases and spiffy videos won’t do the job. They’re great for when you want to preach to the converted, but not much for getting new converts.
And what’s with MDN agreeing with John Dvorak?
A sign of the end times?
@leodavinci
“And what’s with MDN agreeing with John Dvorak?
A sign of the end times?”
Egads – I hope not.
I like MacWorld. I want to see it continue & thrive.
I think it’s a great opportunity to get some hands-on experience w/ products you otherwise wouldn’t know about.
But they do need to get back some bigger vendors.
Apple was at Macworld 2010. There were iMacs, MacBooks, iPhones, and iPods on display, everywhere I looked. I even overheard a few “undercover” Apple employees there, covertly speaking to vendor reps.
Macworld in San Francisco will tend to be a regional affair going forward, from an attendee (not vendor) perspective. It was a lot of fun, and I’ll go again, but I wouldn’t get on an airplane to be an attendee. If the next one happens, and it is as well-attended and successful as 2010. IDG World Expo should consider having one on the East Coast. With the popularity of Apple products on a steady rise over the last few years, it won’t be the same as a few years ago. I think Mac, iPhone, and iPod fans will attend (as demonstrated at Macworld SF 2010), even if Apple is not there. And the vendors who buy booth space will find it worthwhile.
Yes, the Apple Store is an ongoing “mini-expo” taking place every day all over the world, and that’s fine for Apple, but most of the cool (non-Apple) Apple-related products are not sold at Apple Stores.
Face it. The age of conventions is over, particularly MacWorld. There just isn’t enough going on in the Mac community to warrant a large convention. 99% of new application development seems to be in the iPhone apps world. I don’t need to fly to San Francisco to see the latest iFart.
A large “virtual show floor” website would be a much better way to find out about things. You would reach FAR more people. Companies could have “show floor” sites that offered info, videos, and pointed people to their main websites.
MacWorld died the day Steve blew it off.
San Francisco MacWorld is THE Mecca of innovation and there is simply no reason not to have a single spot where hundreds of new & improved products and services can be browsed in a couple days and potential needs and problems solved in one spot.
Dvorak is and always has been a hack & huckster. Truth is truth.
You can often find a solution @ MW that saves lots of time each year or cuts your costs or improves your own products/services with just one visit. Try emailing and phoning and searching to contact 300-400 companies and see how long that takes.
I’ll visit MacWorld every year they have it. San Francisco isn’t heaven, but it is always fun outside of MacWorld.
Most people are familiar with Apple’s product offerings. To me these conventions are about the opportunity for the little guy to get noticed. When I look at the highlights of a convention, I’m hoping to find something that I never knew existed.
As others have mentioned conventions in general are dying. It’s just too easy and cheap to put up a video and spend money in other ways that allow a company to reach out to a much larger audience.
Unfortunately, they are going to die, just like many Mac user groups have died.
There may be a MacWorld 2011, but maybe no too many after that. Two things are converging to hurt them. First, mass trade-shows and conventions in general are going away. The excess money to travel to them is gone and we all learned to live without them. Communication is such that new products can be announced in faster, more effective ways. Specialty conventions will live on… but for MacWorld probably not because of the second point.
Next, Apple has pulled out. MacWorld could be a vibrant specialty convention, but that will be difficult without Apple. Oracle (Sun) OpenWorld will continue. Novell’s Brainshare probably will too. But it’s doubtful MacWorld will without Apple.
Don’t get me wrong, I love conventions. Learn about tech stuff and hang out with fellow geeks. “Free” (expense account) food and fading pop stars from the 80’s and 90’s doing private shows. (I saw Huey Lewis and the News at one! Thank goodness they didn’t sing “I Want A New LUN.”) It’s a great blend of tech, party, and cheese!
But… they’re dwindling in numbers.
I doubt Dvorak will ever see another belt buckle.
“Face it. The age of conventions is over…”
Tell that to the attendees of the San Diego ComiCon and the people behind it.
Attendance there has increased every year for almost 2 decades, and they may have sold out this year’s four-day passes already. I think they sold out last year by March or April.
Maybe other conventions could learn something.
MacWorld is dead. Move on.
I think that the “Macworld Expo” needs to be transformed into something different, just the way the publishing industry will be transformed.
I attended 3 Macworld expos in my life – Boston in ’88 or so, and 2 of the NY shows sometime in the 90’s. When they moved from NY to Boston, I was right there with those who said they wouldn’t/couldn’t go again.
What the Expo could become is a traveling show that pops up in a different city every 6 months. Each expo would have more of a local flair and presence with representatives of local MUG’s, FMP user groups adding to the vendors. I remember being in Boston and thinking, “what good is the BMUG to me?”
NY was a good day trip for me. I would never fly across the country for the show (sorry San Fran) or drive 8hrs+ to Boston again. If the show were in Philly every 2 yrs or so, I would be there. I’m sure the same could be said for people in the “fly-over” states.
So that’s my advice to IDG. New cities. Local flavor. Focus on users.
I doubt we’ll ever see a positive critique from Dvorak.
Me: I doubt I’ll ever care about anything Dvorak writes.