January 6th, 2009
Macworld show floor: More than just iPhone covers and iPod speakers?
Clearly, the jury is back on the Macworld keynote this morning. The “new and exciting” announced on stage this morning was, well, mostly new but hardly exciting. That’s why I was expecting to see some great things on the expo floor today.
Some of the buzz after Apple announced that this year’s Macworld would be the company’s last suggested that this could possibly be a good thing for the third-party vendors who come to Macworld to showcase their products but usually got lost in the excitement of what the company announces on stage. Without Steve Jobs to steal the show or big announcements to grab headlines, here was the chance for vendors to show their stuff.
For the record, I’m still working my way around the expo floor and plan to be back tomorrow to see more - so I haven’t seen everything yet. But, so far, I have seen more speakers, earphones, iPhone covers, Macbook carrying cases and iPod skins to make this place feel more like a Saturday morning flea market than a leading technology conferences. To be fair, I have seen a handful of pretty interesting things - productivity tools, photo-sharing software, iTunes synchronization services and plenty of accessories to enhance digital photography. Once I get through the show, I’ll post an entry with some of my favorites.
Finally, what a treat it was to see Microsoft and Google with booths only a stone’s throw from each other. Microsoft was showcasing Office for the Mac while Google was showcasing Mac- and iPhone-specific tools such as Picasa for the Mac - a competitor to the new version of iPhoto announced this morning.
Sam Diaz is a senior editor at ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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