Back From Macworld

January 14th, 2007

Yesterday night I arrived back home from Macworld in San Francisco. I think it was a great show and definitely well attended. There are two things that I did find odd however. One is that Steve Jobs did not make any announcements regarding the Mac. Not even a demonstration of Leopard. Aren’t these the people who will be buying Leopard in a few short months? I was surprised that there were no computer updates, software announcements (iLife 07?), or a Leopard preview. This was probably because Steve wanted to emphasis the fact that Apple is no longer just a Computer company. But still, I think a Leopard preview should be the least that is expected at Macworld. This isn’t Appleworld:-)

The second thing that really surprised me was how many companies were there to promote iPod accessories, specifically iPod cases. There were so many companies promoting all these iPod cases, many promoting virtually the same iPod case, just in a slightly different color. Then you had a wide variety of iPod speakers. These guys must be selling their stuff because Macworld is not cheap. If they are then good for them. However, I think for the good of the Mac platform and the Mac community there needs to be a rise in the number of software (specifically shareware or small software companies), who attend to show off their new Mac products. There are small pavilions that small software companies are able to purchase for a relatively cheap amount, but by far the most prevalent products announced and being promoted at Macworld were iPod related. I would personally like to see Macworld take the initiative to support small software developers by recognizing the impact small developers have on the Mac community. They should guarantee a certain number of small software vendors and reduce the price for ADC pavilions to make them more accessible to emerging Mac developers. Although there were a lot of small software companies exhibiting, in relation to iPod related products, they were well out-shined.

Other than that, I think the Macworld Expo was a great success and a great resource for Mac enthusiasts. Even more importantly, next year it will be a great resource for RAGE enthusiasts. We have already booked our booth and will be there to show off some new products we have been working on and, more importantly, meet face to face with our customers. We will post more details as the event gets closer, but we are real excited here for next year. For now, mark down January 14-18, 2008 in your iCal calendar!


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