Apple Won't Be At Macworld Boston

analog_line writes "Apple apparently is none too pleased about the decision to move Macworld to Boston from New York in 2004. So much so that they have said that they 'will not be participating in Macworld Boston.' They are also considering pulling out of Macworld New York 2003, though they say they will be at Macworld San Francisco."

Comments

Can they afford to do this?

[guidobot]

It's not like Apple is doing so well that they can afford to play the role of protester. Don't they think that if they stay away from the east coast trade show because "IGN is no longer investing in New York", there might be a significant number of people on the east coast who decide not to invest in Apple? Especially after Boston lobbied hard to bring the trade show back, this is definitely a slap in the face. Apple deciding to take their ball and go home just doesn't make any sense.

Re:Can they afford to do this?

[dubiousmike]

Well, my take on it is that perhaps Apple needs to keep spending money on their "Switch" campaign which seems largely targeted toward newbies.

Newbies don't go to MacWorld (generally speaking) or any other trade show for that matter.

This paralells your link that Apple isn't doing so well.

no G5s or PPC 750s, then

[Faggot]

If Apple won't be at MW2004, then we can safely assume that no new PPCs will be showing up in the Apple lineup. Because if they were, Steve Jobs would NOT BE ABLE TO RESIST announcing it there.

I wouldn't be surprised if Apple were trying to break from the pattern of announcing all their new shit at conferences (MW, SIGGRAPH, etc). That leads to too much speculation.

Re:no G5s or PPC 750s, then

[swb]

Most hard-core Mac users - the kind who would pay for a ticket to the keynote, or pay to travel to New York/Boston - have Internet access and read MacCentral, MacRumors, etc.

We have problems getting travel approved to fix actual problems these days, or to do field office upgrades that are already paid for (eg, recycled hardware, paid-for software licenses, just needs installation/integration on site).

Junkets to trade shows (networld, macworld, etc) have been off the menu for a couple of years now, I wonder if they'll ever come back. They were more about schmoozing and boozing than meaningful learning anyway, so you miss a free vacation.

I wonder who goes to them now and why.

I don't get it...

[Tim Browse]

Ok, I live in the UK, and I seem to be missing something - I don't understand the reasoning behind this - could some Americans fill me in?

Apple HQ is in Cupertino which is already pretty far from NYC, I thought. Now MacWorld's going to be in Boston instead. A brief consultation of my Atlas reveals this is not significantly farther away from Cupertino. I can't imagine the geography is a problem - so what is the problem?

Is it just that NYC is 'cooler' than Boston? I saw how excited Jobs was to announce the Apple Store opening in NYC - is this coolness really the only reason? Is Boston a run-down dump? Is it hard to fly to? Is it a logistics nightmare? Do Apple have a big office in NYC, but not in Boston?

Or is it just an excuse for Apple to not go to the east coast MacWorld because they need to save money?

Just curious...

Tim

Apple's Choice

[FugiMax]

Not sure why everyone is pissed at Apple about this...it's their *right* to participate in any or no trade events. And before you scream about abandoning the east coast...how do you know Apple won't just do their OWN show in NY or get another promoter to do the show?

Testing the Waters

[mchummer]

I believe that this is not quite what it seems. If Apple were that opposed to a move to Boston, they would have communicated that to IDG quite a while ago and the move would not have occured.

Something financial/political is behind this. I believe that the amount of good publicity that will be generated by a return to their roots in Boston (The City of Boston is even spending money to publicize the return) far outweighs their leaving NYC.

The Macintosh debuted here in Boston, as did all of Apple's cutting edge technologies - Hypercard, the Newton, etc. While the temporary relocation to NY was important to help strengthen Apple's credibility amongst their media (broadcast and print) customers a return to Boston is equally important.

Remember the rumors that Apple was contemplating moving their West coast outing to LA for that reason.

Apple still has strong educational and bio-tech/research links here as well as a mature media industry that resides here - Boston has long had the reputation of being the place where you get your start in print/ film/video production and the place where people come to after they've established themselves to set up their own independant companies.

So, I say, wait a bit. Let the politics unfold. If you want Macworld to return to Boston with Apple's support - let your voice be heard. Compose a well reasoned letter as to why they should return to Boston. Snail mail may be best way to get your message heard, maybe not. But remember that Steve Job's baby had its coming out party here and that Boston knows how to put on a damn good show!

McHummer
Actor/Macintosh Specialist

I'll have grounds
More relative than this: the play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.
Hamlet. Act ii. Scene 2

Hit your lines and say your marks. - Lee Marvin

Re:Are they insane?

[Ian Wolf]

Everyone and their brother knew that Boston was lobbying hard for MacWorld and that IDG was all for it. Apple certainly DID know before the deal was inked and they didn't say a word. BUT this way, Steve gets to show us all how powerful he is.

This is a classic, "I'm gonna take my ball and go home." I suspect little Stevie Jobs said those exact words many times.