What, exactly, is the need for a yearly Macworld confab?
Produced by the all-Apple, all-the-time magazine, the Macworld Conference & Expo is a five-day conference that begins Tuesday in San Francisco. It's in 25th year, with the first Macworld dating back to 1985. It's part trade show, part customer circus and altogether undeniably, shamelessly Machead central. For some time, two Macworlds were held each year -- the first in San Francisco, the second in Boston and later in New York. As the video below proves, it's for die-hard Apple enthusiasts, the kind of iCustomers that flood tech blogs whenever the latest iSomething hits Apple stores, scattered across 41 U.S. states.
Inevitably, the presence of Apple stores -- nearly 300 around the world, most of them here America -- has diluted the meaning and purpose of a carefully choreographed Macworld gathering. Apple itself agrees. This is the first year that the Cupertino-based Apple, whose headquarters is just a few miles south of San Francisco, is not participating.
In a statement explaining its decision, the company said last year: "Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers."
Who needs a yearly Macworld in San Francisco when, as the release of the iPad last month showed, we're living in bigger, non-stop Mac world? Though a product like Mac OS X, Apple's operating system, has a market share of only 10 percent or so, it's almost impossible think about music in digital-driven the 21st century without iTunes and the iPod. Increasingly, Steve Jobs' Apple is leading the way in marketing and catering to the need of mainstream digital customers who lead portable, app-obsessed lives. Think iPhone. Think iPad. And through its Apple stores -- and, just as important, through its own web site -- Apple reaches and educates its customers.
"Macworld comes to you -- that's Apple's strategy now," Peter Hirshberg, co-founder of the marketing agency The Conversation Group, told HuffPostTech. Hirshberg should know. For nine years, he led a group called Enterprise Marketing at Apple. "Through the Internet and through the Apple stores, Apple expands its brand."
Are you currently at Macworld? What are the highlights for you so far? If you're a Machead and don't see the point of the yearly confab, tell us why. Comment below.
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Ultimately, MacWorld is merely an information distribution clearinghouse for all things Mac related. There hasn't really been a need for a physical place and all the requisite costs to achieve that aim for some time. That said, the interaction of people is always important and irreplaceable. But I'm not sure the cost/benefit works out in business terms any longer. And business is what's been what keeps the thing going.
I think MacWorld could survive as a professional resource. A place to go for continuing education. Apple does some introductory training at their stores but nothing at this level.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=znbdEBq68UE
It's not just about Apple. I never attend the Keynote, it's easier to catch that online. (Although I do miss the gang of Mac Geniuses who were traditionally available 2 or 3 at a time to noodle with me about non-standard questions, a kind of Geek Nirvana.)
It's about discovering fab hardware and software by other companies that supports and extends what my Apple stuff can do.
It's about talking directly with CEO's and Developers and giving them input and hearing what they are up to next.
It's about getting hints from other savvy users, and hearing experts debate and discuss a wide range of issues while actually being able to participate via live Q & A.
And oh yeah, it's about spending a few days not chained to my desk and seeing what's up somewhere beyond my local haunts.
;-)
Sounds to me like someone has a little Mac envy....
It was fun to see all the demos and be able to talk to people in the companies about their products. Now there is less of that and more hype than substance. Still, I am going because i got a new MacPro last year and now I can run things that I couldn't before and i am in the market for a couple of peripherals and i want to see them in person.
If Apple is completely out that does make a difference, but I still like looking at all the other products up close and personal. Maybe there will be something available for a good "show price." The vibe has certainly changed over the years, but that is understandable. Apple has gone from the underdog to a big player. There is the good and the bad with that, in any field.