Comdex Canceled For 2004

Stephen Shankland writes "Comdex is canceled -- at least for 2004. The once-imposing tech event lost out to trade shows for specialized niches and consumer electronics, but the Comdex organizers want to bring it back in 2005, according to an executive quoted in our story at CNET News.com."

Comments

Smart move

[kneecarrot]

I for one think this is a good move. Regroup and try to make it better than ever for 2005. I've attended the last 3 or 4 and have see it slowly losing the spark it once had.

Wow

[Ag3nt]

That is interesting, it was cancelled 2 years ago, but was brought back almost a month after its cancellation. I have always looked forward to Comdex and are personally downtrodden that it is gone(for now anyway). Budget issues are always a problem when it comes to huge conventions such as Comdex, Networld Interop, and Brainshare. Renting out a convention center and providing programs and conferences for the attendees can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Especially with times being as they are, I can understand why this event might have been cancelled even though the press release did not cover the reason...

Hmmm

[Otter]

I've got to think the Internet must have played a huge role, too. There isn't nearly as much need to fly across the country and spend thousands of dollars to learn about new products and demo them. Anyway, Las Vegas won't be missing the biggest bunch of cheapskates to tie up tens of thousands of rooms every year.

Since we now have a Comdex story topic and now Comdex, maybe this is a good opportunity to revamp? Adding a Gentoo topic, for example, or a casemod topic?

Saw this coming

[Anonymous Coward]

Comdex was more than a place for tea and crumpets, it was a place where average Joe IT could come, check out the babeage, get the toys, drool at the pundification, and check out all the cool techtoys to recommend to their bosses. It was the engine of the soul of IT.

About the time of the .dotcom kabloom, Comdex bosses thought they were finally in the uppity ranks, and closed it all off except to 'vips' and other fortune50-exclusive folks. No more parties, just drivle from the big guys. They took out all the reason to go.

Then again, they were innovators in showing the rest of the industry how to commit suicide by banning their customers and throwing away their products. Too bad there's nothing left to part out.

So Much for "Windex!"

[Spencerian]

My problem with Comdex was that it wasn't a particularly attractive show. Because most tech on display was heavily influenced, in my opinion, by Microsoft work, the show got the nickname of Windex. As a result over the years, the less creative Microsoft became, the less interesting the shows became. Fewer people and exhibitors attended, and you see the result.

Sorry, as a Mac tech, I don't do Windows, primarily. Today, in this world where viable alternatives to MS tech are plentiful, other companies are considering Linux, Mac OS X and other UNIX-derived tech and not looking back.