I never thought I would read Auden's poem and laugh. Just a few nights ago I was watching 3 weddings and a funeral and cried at this part again.

Or was it 4 weddings?

It's a great poem.

Four weddings.

Well, technically 3, since one of them didn't go through (oh god, this is sad...)

MacWorld Expo shall be called noMacWorld Expo.
Steve Jobs will next be seen in a white linen suit and bowling shoes.
The bite from the Apple logo will be filled and a dollar sign will adorn the center.
We shall all become bored with each other and take up knitting.
Someone will turn off the sun.

Newsflash: Apple quits MacWorld Expo, profits up $1.3 million immediately.

That's about how much they're probably spending on just being there. And for what? Anyone who wants to know what's going on can find out via the Interwebs days before anyway. The bummer is the fact that all those software/hardware vendors besides Apple are losing out on some great publicity. But perhaps they can use that money to promote themselves online... maybe by purchasing that empty banner ad spot on TheGraphicMac!!!!

Newslfash? Sounds like a character from a fantasy novel...

I think all the rest of the usual MacWorld vendors should pull out and hire that guy, James Dempsey, to start and maintain a fresh marketing strategy!

Or, they were right and the stock tanks.

OK, had to search for this post, but finally found it.

This truly is the end of an era. My parents used to go to MacWorld Expo for years. And it is not like I am some teenager making that statement.

Apple has changed and evolved as has the marketplace. The timing is interesting though. Maybe Mr. Jobs is well and healthy (hopefully), and he just grew weary of the endless speculative deathwatch commentary. They certainly don't need the MW Expo to sell products anymore, but it sure was fun for us while it lasted.

Chris

Yeah, things have changed. IDs used to be able to get rich designing exhibits and stuff for trade shows, with Comdex being the big thing, with vendors jonesing that extra edge and trashing their stuff and going all new custom year after year after year, exhibit space fees, maintaining staff-manager-etc just for trade shows, diversion of other staff/personnel time/resources, storage and transportation costs, setup/teardown costs, the manning staff (often SMEs, a valuable resource), personnel perdiem and transportation costs, etc, etc, a lot of overhead.

But vendors don't go to trade shows anymore. Comdex is basically dead, as are all the others. There's other ways of reaching and connecting with your publics, in a lot more engaging way (and a whole lot cheaper and effective).

They'll probably always be around, though. It's historical and a bonafide way of doing stuff, and a writeoff for those companies and CEOs and sycophant marketing and sales dudes who like going off to Paris, wherever, to party, act expert, talk smack, and trade business cards.

Ed