It's been the better part of a decade since Boston hosted Macworld Expo, and those of us who haven't been back since the early East Coast expos in Boston were interested to see the massive changes to the city: a huge freeway had been torn down and stuffed underground in tunnels, the area around the World Trade Center looks far less like an industrial wasteland (and more like a city), and the huge new Boston Convention & Exhibition Center is so new that the carpet squeaked in places. Past -- Macworld Expo on the East Coast - whether in Boston or New York City - has been characterized by heat and humidity, a loud and dynamic show floor, and a large and broad representation of all that is Macintosh. The recent Macworld Expo in Boston failed to deliver on any of those items, but as Expo Conference Chair Paul Kent described it, comparing this year's Expo to those in the past would be comparing apples to oranges

A few weeks ago I wrote an article proposing a way that industry conferences could be rated (though it was also a subtle nudge to conference organizers)

Despite Macworld Expo's small number of exhibitors and reduced attendance, there was no lack of superlatives, both interesting products and notable observations. Don't Try This While Driving -- Apple Specialist Tech Superpowers ended up with a bigger booth than they'd expected, so they decided to have some fun filling the space