Skip to content
Thoughtful, detailed coverage of everything Apple for 33 years
and the TidBITS Content Network for Apple professionals

Responses to a Macworld Newbie

Tuesday was a good email day. After running "Impressions of a Macworld Newbie" article in TidBITS-362 (my first TidBITS article), I received a steady stream of comments and words of welcome from readers around the world.

In particular, several people commented on my advice that new attendees refrain from picking up every freebie in sight, and others reacted to my mention of Steve Jobs’s "Reality Distortion Field."

Suzanne Courteau <[email protected]> writes:



First, I left my press bag at my office. In my jacket pocket I carried pens and business cards. When I ran across a truly fab product, it was easy enough to write a note on a business card asking the product manager or PR manager to send it to me at my office. I got all my information delivered to me and suffered absolutely no back or feet problems.


Adam L. Pollock <[email protected]> takes a decidedly cumbersome approach:



As far as picking up every pen, CD, disk, etc., this was certainly my goal. I was also hunting for t-shirts – at the end of the show I ran around asking for freebies and trades and amassed about twelve!


Jack C. Kobzeff <[email protected]> observes:



I felt that Jobs’s Reality Distortion Field was only running at half strength this time. I saw him in the early Mac days and as NeXT was getting started, and back then he could sell snow to Eskimos. He was incredible during the NeXT presentations, getting suit-and-tie executives excited about a box with no applications and no floppy disk. This time, I’m not sure if he’s just older, too rich, or doesn’t quite have his heart into the Apple deal, but he didn’t have quite the same level of RDF. It was there; just weaker.



Subscribe today so you don’t miss any TidBITS articles!

Every week you’ll get tech tips, in-depth reviews, and insightful news analysis for discerning Apple users. For over 33 years, we’ve published professional, member-supported tech journalism that makes you smarter.

Registration confirmation will be emailed to you.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA. The Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.