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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."
Senior execs added: "Have you seen the hookers in Boston? I'm not traveling across 3 timezones for that..."
Can you blame them given current (well, the past 5-10 years :-) traffic conditions in downtown Boston?
www.christopherlewis.com
Sony announced that it wont be participating in E3 because it's not in Japan.
From the article:
Following Apple's statement, an IDG World Expo representative said the company had no indication from Apple that the Mac maker would pull out of the show if it was moved to Boston.
Seriously, when you're doing *MAC*World, and making a major change, you'd think they'd ask Apple what they thought.
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.
But what do I know. I'm just looking for anonymous gay sex.
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.
I thought it was a pimp convention!
Boy, was I was wrong.
And the only hoochie there was this drugged up kid who kept babbling on about how her term paper going "beep beep beep" even though it was "really good".
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
By only participating in one MacWorld per year they alliviate some of these problems.
I am not saying that I think Apple will go to a year long product release cycle, I just think they are actively fighting the pre-MacWorld sales problem. I also think Apple will continue with the recent trend of releasing more and more products out of the MacWorld cycle.
According to their ad slogans, they want everyone to change...is it so hard to expect the same from management?
"she says i'm lousy conversation. as if that's supposed to help."
It doesn't matter, people who don't like Apple's attitude can just switch to alternative suppliers of Macintoshes and buy OS X from someone else.
-- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
So the convention is held in a different city.
*WHY* is Apple having such an immature hissy-fit.
Let's see, valid reasons for Boston:
Apparently, tradition. Until 1998, Boston is where MW Expo was held for 12 years in a row
Cost - Boston has offered some pretty serious discounts on the cost of renting their convention center for this show
Valid reasons for disliking a move to Boston:
None that I can think of. Apple hasn't given a *SINGLE* reason for their desire to stay in New York.
If Apple was based in the NYC area, I could understand it... But once you're crossing from the West Coast to the East Coast, who cares if you're going 200 or so extra miles? The difference in travel cost is negligible, especially considering the cost of actually hosting the show will apparently be far less in Boston.
I'm forced to agree with the guy who got marked down to -1 Flamebait for making the comment about Steve Jobs and a baby bottle. This decision by Apple is stupid, immature, and nonsensical (especially given Apple's financial state...)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
My two cents.
Aha...I have thought of an answer to my own question - perhaps Apple are annoyed because the first they heard about the 'Switch' was when it popped up on iCal after IDG published their updated calendar? :-)
Tim
"And so I was in Boston, but it was like, really busy...all the cabs were beeping their horns...it was like...beep beep beep beep beep...and then I fell over, and, like, half of my keynote was gone...and I was, like, huh? Boston devoured my keynote. It was a really good keynote. And then I had to write it again, and I had to do it fast, so it wasn't as good. It's kind of...a bummer.
So the next year we did it in New York, and it was so much easier. I'm never going back.
My name's Steve Jobs, and I'm an iCEO. Can you pass me that rattle? I think it's mine."
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
The $45 million dollar loss that people keep linking to comes from one-time charges, mostly Apple writing off investments--and when you have over $4 billion in the bank, losing $45 million is nothing. Had they not taken the write downs, they would have had an expected profit this last quarter.
This has NOTHING to do with hissy fits and everything to do with:
a)Not looking like they are abandoning NYC.
b)Apple knows that when they are in NYC, they have the ear of the media. Moving to Boston is not in their interest as they will get less ink.
c)When those costs are figured, suddenly it seems like an excuse to get out of/cut down on the Expos.
d)Wean people off of the Expo release/disappointment death cycle, which screws up their product flow.
e)Concentrate their money not on the Mac Geek Faithful but instead on Regular Folks Who Might Switch.
You look at all this, and it's a slam dunk...it's too good an opportunity to pass up.
Possibility: maybe Apple will take the money it saves and instead go to PCExpo, and make a stand for the Mac there. I can imagine this happening, as they'd get lots of press for showing up and would strengthen their committment to expanding the base.
Apple has been looking down upon Macworld NY for a while now. Disliking the move to Boston is simply an excuse for Apple to back out of MacWorld NY without looking like a jerk.
I would imagine that it is hard to "wow" folks on a set date every six months. People expect to get blown away by a Jobs keynote, however, that's kind of hard to do when a product isn't quite ready or a when a product is ready for sale months before Macworld.
Apple really been having a hard time syncing up with MacWorld dates during the past year so. MacWorld keynote have been fairly week, and Apple has been announcing and releasing a lot of products at "Apple Events," which they can schedule at any given time.
It'll probably be a hell of a lot easier for Apple to wow folks once a year at a set time, and at random Apple expos the rest of the time. But, nevertheless, it sure does look bad for Apple to back out of a huuuuuge trade show dedicated to them. At the very least they could show up and release a press release telling people not to expect new Apple hardware/software at they show. I think Apple should stick with Macworld, however they should inform their users, the press, and investors to concentrate on Apple events... not MacWorld expos.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"