Macworld SF Expo 2011: Disappointing, but . . . #apple #macworld #in

Yes, it was that time of the year again, and I made it to the Macworld 2011 Expo here in San Francisco, albeit the very last day. I have yet to attend any of the conferences. Here are my thoughts and highlights of the Expo. My compatriots were Cherie Carter and Jeanne Hendrickson. And I also ran into Adam Helweh, and photographer extraordinaire, Duane Conliffe.

I was very pleased to see the new inventors space (can’t remember the actual title) where I met two men who created a collapsible, pocket-size stand for the iPhone and iPad using Kickstarter to raise venture capital to develop the product and get it to market. I thought this was pretty cool. The interactive tables and whiteboards by SMART, Inc. were interesting.

Another highlight, was meeting these four entrepreneurs who have created “Off the Chain,” for iPods, IPads, iPhones, mobile phones, and mp3 players. They were incredibly enthusiastic and working the expo floor quite well. You can check them out at: http://digitaltrendsetters.com.

I also found a great productivity mobile app (for iPhone/iPod  and IPad) made by Appigo, and a great remote clone tool made by thinkoptics, inc. I liked the thinkoptics, inc. app so well, that I’m finally going to update to the latest iPod Touch, so I can use it. I’m also purchasing MacKeeper a tool that has a great security feature in the event a computer is stolen. The Mac Geek Gab featuring Dave Hamilton and John Braun from The Mac Observer, Inc. was enjoyable and informative. It was good to see BusyMac who makes BusyCal as well, and I’m sorry I missed the OmniGroup booth. I didn’t see them. They make that great tool Omngraffle.

Although I did find these great products, talks and services, I will say that this year was a disappointment in that there were no products I could find that addressed my core interests as a Macintosh computer user in the areas of graphic design and photography on the Macintosh platform. Most vendors offered tools for the mobile platform. The fact that Macworld is having a mobile app conference and expo in Barcelona this year leaves me asking why did they dedicate 95% of the expo to mobile app developers.  Hewlett Packard, Xerox, Seagate were the only prominent vendors here this year. It would be great if Adobe, Quark (yes Quark), and Apple saw we who use their hardware and software as a valuable consumer market. By the looks of this year’s Macworld, it is quite clear that this is not the case. See my addendum below.

It also seems that the focus of Macworld is only on the conferences and the expo is an afterthought. I think I’m finally at the point where I am seriously looking at not attending next year. I don’t do the conferences, as they are quite pricey.

Feeling a bit sad about the direction Macworld is taking. Maybe I’m too old-school. I miss the Geekdom of the Macworld of yore. Love to know your thoughts.

Addendum:
Just finished having a nice talk with my neighbor David Morgenstern, a blogger at The Apple Core on ZDnet and definitely one of my go to people for anything Apple, and he shared his thoughts about how many vendors who would like to show at Macworld could not do so due to the high cost of the exhibitors price. He also felt that companies like Adobe could not justify the cost in regard to their ROI (Return on Investment). Maybe Macworld needs to look at lowering its exhibitor’s fee or move the event to less costly venue. I think his point is well taken, and I thank him for sharing it.

Again, love to know your thoughts.