More Macworld Superlatives

[We don’t have room for every comment we received about Macworld Expo, but we just had to make an exception for this list. -Adam]

You’ll read about the "important" stuff in all the trade rags and online ‘zines. Here’s some of what really happened at Macworld Expo a few weeks back.

Biggest Presence on the Show Floor — Power Computing. Many, if not most, of the machines on the floor were theirs, not to mention the big, loud, video wall. Next year’s buy-out rumor will probably be Power Computing buying Apple.

Hottest Party — Dantz. Literally, the hottest party. Held at the Cartoon Art Museum, this packed event overwhelmed whatever air conditioning there may have been. If not for the great food, refreshments and conversation, I’d have left. Glad I didn’t.

Other Biggest Presence on the Show Floor — The Web. Every vendor was hawking its application as a Web tool. "Known us for years as a [database / spreadsheet / word processor / graphics application / floor wax]? Well, surprise, we’re really a Web site builder!"

Best Deal — Fujitsu. The company offered formatted 128 MB optical disks for $5 each. That’s about four cents per megabyte. I bought ten, or 1.25 GB, for $50.

Best Party — NEC. (The MetaTools party, while impressive, was a little too hip for its own good, and the free mixed drinks inspired many meaningful but incoherent conversations. I found the free shuttle buses a nice touch, though.) The NEC party hit on all counts: Great food (hors d’oeuvres, chili dogs, gelato, and more), great drinks (free beer, wine, soft drinks, and coffee), great location (the Gift Center Pavilion atrium), great music (D’ Cuckoo), great t-shirts, great lighting and sound, and even a great cause (NEC awarded Shriners Hospitals $25,000 at the event). About the only thing missing was sex. Which brings us to…

Best Breakfast — Well, actually, it was the only industry breakfast I attended – English company Dorling Kindersley’s introduction of their latest CD-ROM, Anne Hooper’s Ultimate Sex Guide. Appropriately, eggs and sausages were served. Or, as the British say, bangers.

Best Demo — Global Village, Friday, 11:25. The demo consisted of the demo guy and an actor who played, at various times during the demo, a Deadhead, a computer nerd, and an artsy French person. What made this particular session amazing was the audience. First, a guy stepped up and juggled the spongy globes Global Village was tossing to (and at) the crowd. Then, the demo guy got a snappy dialog going with a man in the audience. (Demo Guy: "The hottest thing going right now is the Internet. You, sir, you look like an Internet user. What to you use it for?" Man: "To waste time.") But the demo turned into hilarious improv when the woman pulled from the crowd to help with the demo turned and kissed the actor portraying the nerd. Both of the presenters barely recovered enough to finish. But recover they did, and brilliantly, weaving in and out of the prepared script. Major kudos to the presenters.

Personally, this was the best Macworld ever for me. Best people, most fun, best food, best ride (stretch limo to North Beach), most centrally located hotel. Oh yeah, I spent less money than my last three visits, and I even lost five pounds walking around. (Or maybe I just sweated them off at the Dantz party). I was thoroughly and joyfully exhausted.

Must have been the sex breakfast.