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Tokyo Macworld Canceled
jlechem writes "Wired is running a story about Apple pulling out of Macworld Tokyo. It seems they decided to pull out quietly several months ago. And once they left all the major Apple Developers followed, and IDG canceled the show due to 'lack of exhibitor interest.' Macworld Tokyo is the biggest gathering of Mac fans in the world. Although the three-day show draws about half the exhibitors of U.S. shows, it attracts double the number of visitors, about 190,000. Traditionally held in March, the Tokyo show has run for the last 12 years. After their threat to ditch Macworld Boston, you have to wonder why Apple is pulling out of these expos?"
we'll miss em if they go. maybe now they can finish that port of OS X for the Hammer
"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." - Rahm Emanuel
My experience from them with past MacWorld expos in the USA is that they are not nearly as willing to negotiate as they should be. These folks had a serious cash cow in the marketing money they took by the truckload from dotcoms who had to be have the biggest most amazing booths at their tradeshow. I'm glad to see some of the heavy weights in the industry, such as recent Apple pull-outs and Adobe's non-show in NY last year, finally put these people in their place. Time for some new blood in the promotional events arena methinks. Chin up. This only means good things for smaller software development houses, what the dotcom era was _supposed_ to be about.
i think it's pretty obvious why apple has decided to nix it's mac worlds, now that apple has OS X out the door, it doesn't need mac worlds to sell it, planned obselecence should do that nicely. starting around 2000, people started catching on and letting other people in on the big secret: don't buy hardware in the month(s) before macworld, you're gonna get screwed. mucho true. apple's hardware sales slow to a trickle, and then gush once new hardware is released, making it so that there's a ton of spare inventory laying around they have to sell almost at used prices. this is bad buisness. so they're getting rid of announcing new hardware at mac worlds, and more or less randomly announcing things as they come to frutition. i suspsect this makes hardware design deadlines more flexible, allowing for smarter and better designs also. the new iMac was the last big macworld announcment, the eMac was the first big non Macworld announcment.
moox. for a new generation.
this sounds like the same (very true) argument of someone who can't afford a jaguar and instead opts for a toyota camry. nice troll.
moox. for a new generation.
Macworld Tokyo is the biggest gathering of Mac fans in the world.
was
Although the three-day show draws about half the exhibitors of U.S. shows,
drew
it attracts double the number of visitors, about 190,000.
attracted
"And like that
Apple's biggest problem, and what I believe is the reason for them pulling out of these trade shows, is simply that they can't keep up - ie produce new stuff worthy of the expense of attending the show, putting on a presentation, meeting strick show-time deadlines, etc.
Here's why in one word: Motorola
What Apple should have done is made one big fancy switch all at once. In other words, they should have gone with a new processor producer *before* they started coding OS X. That way, software producers who would have had to re-write the code for the new OS anyway could also take into account the new processor architecture.
Right now, unless someone else (likely IBM, but when?) can produce the PPC chips, Apple is stuck with Motorla and their craptastic ability to produce new, faster processors. Sure, OS X screams on a dual 1.25 GHz system compared to the 450 MHz I'm running right now, but Windows 2000 also screams on a 3.0 GHz system when compared to a 1 GHz system.
The point is, Apple can't switch to a new architecture now as it would mean software producers would have to once more re-write software they just re-wrote for OS X, and those who haven't gotten that far yet would be back to square one. This is, in short, a problem.
Furthermore, Apple's own 'Think Different' ideaology might be turning around to bite them in the ass. Here they are, presenting this new OS to Windows users and saying "Switch. We're different. And better. And we'll give you cool stuff." But people have short attention spans. If Apple doesn't put out new/cool stuff on a really regular basis, people wonder if Apple is still inovating.
I don't think any what I just wrote is clear. Sigh...
Ack!
Apple has not given its employees a pay raise in 2 years. They just laid off a few people.
They are cutting all unnecessary costs.
The internet is taking away from the importance of expo's, as are the Apple Stores.
I'm saying that you're speaking without knowing. Paraphrasing your page, "Why not buy a bad-ass PC and install Linux, instead of an expensive Mac?".
Because, from stability to UI consistency, OS X is a better value, even at $100. You might not want or need those things, but a lot of people do.
"thats like prefering a toaster over a microwave because the toaster is easier."
Please. I bought a Mac with OS X because I got the benefits of Unix, without the headaches of other types of Unices, not, as you would have us believe, because I'm a "moron". And besides, what's wrong with "easy"? That's who the switch ads are targeting; those who want ease of use. OS X sells itself to Unix fans.
*everything* is Orwellian to cats.
During the current OS X transition, Apple needs the G4 architecture to support legacy software. Not just in Classic. Many users still boot OS 9.
Once OS X is fully adopted, Apple could release hardware based on another architecture with no Classic support. App vendors would need to recompile Carbon/Cocoa apps into "fat" binaries.
But who knows...if Intel continues to push Pentium performance, maybe a G4 emulator could smooth the transition, like the 68K emulator that shipped with the first PPC macs.
Apple is as active as ever with the events that count, events that my company helps manage. They sponsor many of the O'Reilly events, as well as (for example) the recent Macromedia DevCon in Orlando.
Apple's quite generous with the hardware at these events, rivalling the amount of equipment found in the largest tradeshow booths.
This, and the fact that Comdex is on the skids (how's CeBit doing?), really just points to the fact that vendors everywhere, Apple included, are realizing that the best way to reach real customers is through smaller, targeted, developer-oriented events.
There was a lot of talk after the last Comdex that trade shows may be dying all together. Since the main purposes of the trade show have always been announcements and demonstrations, the internet has made a major dent in their usefulness. Tech companies used to use the shows to band together their announcements. The release of several products at the same time increased the odds of tv airtime. Now, with specialized media and a 24 hour news cycle, there isn't as much a need for it. In fact, its now better to announce a product during a dry spell in the news week.
As someone who has been a marketing droid, tradeshows are not an effective use of marketing money when you brand is well established - it doesn't tend to generate new leads or customers because most of the people that go are already existing (in Apple's case, also loyal) customers. A marketing investment *should* translate into sales, immediate or repeat (this is the post .com era, right?).
There can be post-sales value in a "user group" sense but there are often better ways to sustain customer loyalty, particularly for commodity products, which PCs including Macs have become.
JGski
It seems to me that the people who pay attention to MacWorlds the most are Mac Zealots. These people are going to buy a Mac no matter what. Why should Apple spend all this extra money to sell to people who are going to buy regardless. With "times as they are", you have to cut costs.
<footnote>
Speaking of "times as they are", are times really that tough for everyone or are we being hood winked into missing raises and doing without when things aren't that bad? Maybe this isn't intentional, it could be that people have gone from being ultra liberal with spending to ultra conservative. Even in my company which has always been slow to spend, things have cut back. What's the real reason behind all this?
</footnote>
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
Um, I'm the proud owner of a 1999 G3 Blue+White, I have no idea what you mean by upgradability here. I've got 1GB RAM in it, 14 slots left on the SCSI chain and 2 on the IDE chain, and several 64-bit PCI slots free. This is a lot more expandability than a typical PC from that day. Apple has two offerings for hardware, one is unexpandable consumer-oriented and the other is workstation-class hardware for serious users. Yes, there is less hardware available for the Mac, but what is available is of much higher quality than typical PC-consumer offerings, and it just works when you plug it in.
And a poorly attended/cancelled expo isn't BAD for the economy, it's just not AS GOOD as a burgenoning expo. That's like saying not getting a bonus for christmas is BAD for your wallet, it's not bad, it's just not good.
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
In some article involving a ranking member of IDG, a conference call/phone conversation with Steve Jobs is quoted or paraphrased saying that he didn't know if he could make enough new product announcements twice a year to warrant two major US expos. Sounds reasonable enough.
Another reason why the expos are a hassle for Apple is people read all the rumor sites and expect ridiculous products (I've been waiting for a 2Ghz G5 for some time now.) to be released. When they aren't released, customers get pissed and blame Apple. It's a joke. One rumor site (I don't want to give them advertising.) once posted an article about a possible join effort between Apple and Lucent to produce a wireless product. The source? A Lucent commercial that shows people using Mac's. It's no wonder Apple lets their lawyers loose on these guys.
Now if only Mr. Google would help me find that darn article...
It takes ignorance to run a mac, it really does... they are (as compared to a PC): 1.) Expensive 2.) Perform poorer @ most things 3.) Not upgradable 4.) Software is becoming more and more limited ..
I can't believe I'm responding to such an incredibly blatant troll. Oh, well, here's the answers to your questions anyway: 1.) Yes, Macs are more expensive. If you buy your computers based on price alone, don't get one. 2.) Their CPUs are currently slower than x86 CPUs, also. That has absolutely jack to do with being "better" at "most things" (my poor slow G4 probably burns DVDs at 1.15x the rate your PC does ... big deal). 3.) Pure crap, what is "unexpandable" about PCI and AGP slots, SDRAM, FireWire/USB/Bluetooth and CPU upgrade cards? Where are you getting your "information?" 4.) The software is actually becoming less and less limited. MacOS X runs basically everything Linux does ... plus lots of real-world apps that Linux doesn't, like Office, Photoshop, games, etc. Of course Macs have less software available than Windows ... but I seem to be doing fine without Bonzi Buddy and Deer Hunter 3, thank you.
i fail to see the reason to be running a mac? Am i alone here?
Evidently you are. Seriously, if you don't see the advantage in running a version of Unix with a REAL usable interface and major commercial application support, then don't worry about it, they're not for you. But the rest of us are doing just fine with ours.
"95% of all Slashdot
1) Only if you build your own PC. And that has been established already. You can always make your own for less than you can buy it. So what?
2) Like......... raw data crunching? yeah, you're right. But some of use don't do raw data 24/7.
3) You mean like my old Powermac 5400/180, originaly speced at 180Mhz pre-G3 processor (I forget the number), I think maybe 64k cache, 16 MB of memory and a 1.5 gig HD. Now it's speced at 300 Mhz G3, 256k cache, 142 MB RAM, 40 Gig HD. ANd this was one of the education macs which weren't supposed to be upgradeable at all. Or perhaps you're reffering to the G4 towers? The ones with teh PCI slots, open drive bays, plenty of room for memory? Yep, no upgrades to be found there.
4) Hmmm, right bringing more developers over to your platform limits the hardware.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
While it is true that people seem to assume *anything* can be updated at MW (unless it just was), the Origional Rev A Bondi iMac 233mghz was announced August 15th 1998. I think the iMac might be the biggest thing Apple released since 1984. Granted the iMac took nearly everyone by suprise, so it was not the usual "i'm not buying an ibook now if they might upgrade them next month", but you get my point.
Apple very publically said a year or so ago that they are not going to save all big hardware releases for 2or 3 Expos a year (Tokyo has been the release for some big products). The last two years they used NYC as more of a hands on intro to 10.1 and 10.2 as much as a place to upgrade some of the existing hardware. NYC has not had a "knock their sock off" release since the Cube a few years back. yes, they did not sell well, but it was a huge crowd magnet.
All that being said i find it unfortunate that MW Tokyo is bagged for 2003. The turnout is not that of the US expos, but they Mac users in Japan are generally quite dedicated. I always heard Jobs loved to go into Sony's home territory and and be able to win over a crowd (like releasing the TiBook there). The show also is usually used by a lot of 3rd parties to show off some cool hardware. Everything from the newest Epson printers (that the USA will not see for months) to the clear iBook modification parts. oh well..... maybe it'll be back for 2004.
no, the camry is a nice, affordale, dependale car that everyone else already has. the jaguar is the expensive car that has a tendancy to break down but when it does run, the user enjoys using it tenfold over the camry. people driving camrys are envious of the people who can afford the jaguar, so they come up with reasons to not want the jag so they feel better about themselves. the comment, itself, is a load of bullshit, but people have been modding up my tounge-in-cheek comments the last couple of days. it's bizzare.
puma is the name of os x 10.3, i believe.
moox. for a new generation.