Is this the end of Macworld?
Over the past year I have seen something change in the scheduling of Macworld. Dates have changed, conferences have been cancelled, and Apple and IDG have had many disagreements regarding when Macworld happens and where it takes place. Is Macworld slowly becoming no more? All that Macworld means for the normal user is new products. For some, it is a chance to meet other Mac users, collaborate, see new products from vendors and go to great learning conferences on the latest technologies. For those of you at home, you watch the QuickTime feed and get the new Apple products from the keynote and that is it. Either way, Macworld is something all Mac users look forward to. There is a difference between Macworld and Macexpo. Macworld takes place in San Francisco, Japan, New York (Now Boston). Then there is Macexpo. Macexpo takes place in London and Paris. Don�t confuse the two. This year, things have changed for Macworld and it makes you wonder, will Macworld exist next year or the year after?
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Early this year (2003), we learned there would be no Macworld Tokyo. Then we heard IDG was planning on moving Macworld New York back to Boston. Some of the recent switchers may not know that Macworld on the East coast took place in Boston until IDG moved it to New York a few years ago. IDG, the media company that organizes the conference told Apple the good news and Apple said that would not move to Boston. IDG held the Macworld in New York one last time without Apple�s prominent presence. This meant that Steve Jobs did not deliver his keynote at New York�s Macworld and IDG dubbed Macworld New York 2003 �Creative Pro�, aimed at creative users in the design and production markets.
With Apple�s lack of support for the Boston move, it looks like Macworld New York 2004 will be the same situation but will take place in Boston. There is also no word from IDG about the state of Macworld Tokyo 2004. Everything is up in the air for everywhere except Macworld San Francisco. 2004�s Macworld in the Silicon Valley will still take place and 2005�s date has been set for January 10-14. The Boston date is set for July 12-15 2004 for this year, but sadly no Steve Jobs keynote. San Francisco�s Macworld attracts over 80,000 Mac users for that week. That is a lot of money for IDG and a lot of commerce to the area. San Francisco, I am afraid to say is the only conference and expo that will survive. Overseas there is Macexpo, which takes place in Paris and London, but Boston is �Creative Pro� and Japan has been no more for the past two years. I think we should all go to the San Francisco Macworld before this one is cancelled, too.
Let�s not forget the Worldwide Developer�s conference. Since Apple has chosen, for now, not to attend the Macworld Boston, they have pushed the dates of their developers conference back almost a month from its traditional May date so they can be right at mid June and perfect for new product releases. It is kind of like Apple saying to IDG, �Screw you, we don�t need your dinky expo to release new products.� I like Apple running the show anyway. Across the industry companies are cutting spending to save money and this is just another example. IDG is bringing the east coast Macworld back to their hometown of Boston to cut costs and killing Tokyo off their stops and even Apple has made QuickTime Live (Apple�s developer conference on QuickTime and related technologies) part of WWDC. So in the same conference center, developers can get access to Developer�s conference and QuickTime conferences. Just another example of saving money.
Look at the Linux community. They only have one Linuxworld a year, the PC users have various events, but there are more of them, and look at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. There are only two of those. In my opinion, as always Mac users have gotten spoiled. We should be happy with just one Macworld, and shut up about it. Who knows, there might not be a Macworld in 2006.
