My first Macworld Expo. I didn’t go to the Keynote speech; I just got a free exhibits-only pass, and went on Wednesday after all the Mac fanatics got their fix.

This is also my first trade-show that was not one geared towards enterprise infrastructure. It was immediately apparent on the exhibit floor:

• At an enterprise-vendor trade show, everyone pays (albeit employers usually pay), so both the exhibitors and the attendees seem to be more “serious” about the exhibit floor, and everyone is more engaged. It is relatively easy to get into the Macworld exhibit halls for free, so you have lots of “non-serious” browsers. In return, the exhibitors aren’t necessarily as aggressive about tracking down people who are just idly standing around; they figure you’re just a gawker.
• At an enterprise-vendor trade show, the product is generally available for display, but people aren’t actually selling the product right then and there, since the purchase cycle usually goes through some million-dollar purchasing process, and requires racking some pizza-box machine into a cabinet. At Macworld, there were *so* many vendors of laptop cases, sleeves, iPod skins, headphone accessories, it almost looked like a flea market or some street bazaar. Presumably they are there to sell to retailers (Best Buy, Target, etc.) who would be presumably paying some employees to go check out what is new this year. Although, of the consumer products available for sale, most had an “expo” rate that was up to 50% off their list price.

The one cool thing was some actual space where the new products were being demonstrated – iPhones, iPods, and of course, the new MacBook Air:

I was kind of underwhelmed:

• Heavier than expected. It’s still pretty light as far as laptops and portables go, and it is certainly thin and stylish, but I think calling it “Air” is a bit premature.
• I’m not a fan of the chiclet-style MacBook-like keyboard. I prefer the MacBook Pro keyboard.

But it is kind of neat to be able to provide a first-person description of it without having to wait two months to see one in an Apple store :).

Am I glad I went? Sure. Will I go again? Sure, there is enough to see to keep any computer geek happy (even a non-Machead like myself). Would I line up at 5am in the morning? No way.