Macworld 2010 - "hugely successful"

They were the words of IDG's expo 'main man' Paul Kent at the end of this years MWSF 2010.

I think "hugely successful" may be gilding the lily slightly - from just searching for figures on the net for previous years there is no doubt that attendance is way down - the hi-tech graph above shows it is.

The figures for 2008-2010 are approximate - 2008 was supposed to be up 10% on the previous year, 2009 figs don't appear to be released and this year the 20,000 is sourced from www.istockanalyst.com

If a drop of such a huge amount is considered a "success" then I wonder what a failure looks like!
With the demise of Paris and then London after Apple withdrew, I wonder how long IDG will maintain Macworld in it's current form?

My thoughts after MWSF 2009...

The Cavalry?

I snapped this picture on Saturday as the Don't Bomb The BART demo made it's way along Market St before turning down 4th.

Hidden up an alley opposite the hotel were these cops on trail bikes - for some reason the image of the US Cavalry waiting to head the injuns off at the pass came into my head!...

Thieves Standing Around

So, one of my bags must have been searched by the TSA on the way home. Items of toiletries had gone missing from a bag when I unpacked on getting home. No notice left in bag to show it had been searched. The bag was fitted with one of those combination TSA approved padlocks.
A USB cable for the Just Mobile Gum Pro battery pack I picked up in SF had vanished from the same bag. Do the TSA people just tip the contents out, kick it around a bit then put some back?
I have written an email to the TSA to complain but I'm not holding out hope for a reply...
Maybe TSA stands for Taking Stuff Arbitrarily?...

Don't bomb the BART demo...

A large protest on Saturday - the anti-Israeli/US Gaza demo joined up with the protest about a youth who was shot by the BART police up in Oakland.

A new era?

Macworld has gone out with a whimper. So many companies seem to be saying that next year they will be staying away. Is MWSF going to go the same way as Paris and London?
It may survive by becoming smaller, and filling the black hole left in the middle of the main hall by the departure of Apple, with all the z-lister companies who are normally relegated to the North Hall. Adapt or die?

Guess we'll have to see but I suspect this may be my last trip to SF.....

Kidnapped...

Homeless guy with sign, "My wife has been kidnapped. I just need 99c
more to pay the ransom. "

9am demo in a drizzly SF...

"Stop the bombing in Gaza!"...

I have to wonder if they are demonstrating in Gaza to ask Hamas to stop firing rockets at the Israelis? From my viewpoint I have to say that it goes both ways.
But then that's the great thing about living in a democracy guys - you get to shout your slogans, march along busy main streets and carry your banners with a police escort ensuring you are free to protest.

Some places the police would be beating your head to a bloody pulp with your own banner poles!...

Yeah.....

Off the plane and first stop after hotel? Yep, good ol' Beard Papa for one of their Vanilla Bean Cream Puffs....


...well, two actually!

At the airport...

Sitting in my room after a few beers and a burger in the hotel bar. Managed to configure the MacBook to work with the T-Mobile 3G modem I bought a while back. Speed seems to be reasonable now that I am in a 3G area and the laptop has a USB 2.0 port to plug it into (old iBook didn't, so couldn't test it fully before)
Flight tomorrow to SF so time to get the old noggin down so I can rise early for the shuttle bus to the terminal...

New traveling companion...

So, today I picked up a new Macbook. The 2.4GHz version. I decided that with the exchange rate on the £ being so crappy right now there was no point holding off until I got to the US to pick up a new laptop.
I managed to get some educational discount on the purchase, as well as the reduction of 2.5% VAT, so the price came to £990.

If I had bought one on the other side of the pond then it would have cost the equivalent of £1199 (about $1730 with state tax).

My trusty 8 year old 600MHz iBook G3 is going to be wiped clean and handed over to my wife once I return from MWSF.

Macbook ✔