Macworld Conference

Mac Baby
Tales from the Mac World Conference
Artie Alinikoff
1-10-07

What a way to start the day. Staying at Howard & Jackie Nemerovski’s house is
always a blessing, but this morning, as I got out of the shower, got dressed,
and went upstairs to the kitchen, John and David (Weeks) informed me that the coffee machine was on the fritz. NO COFFEE??? Some of the air had just been let out of my balloon. Starting the day without coffee was barely tolerable, but we all got through it, finished our delicious breakfast of Nemo’s soft scrambled eggs, whole grain toast, and a banana. Ready for the day we walked a few blocks to the express bus stop and 20 minutes later we entered Moscone Center.

Nemo and I went to get me my press pass at the Media Check-in Center. I was unable to get to town in time for the Keynote Address yesterday. I hated to miss it but my last lower right molar and a date with the endotontist kept me away. So here I was, a day late and a throbbing tooth. I gave them my name. It was not in the computer. We scooted over to the next assistant, who was, apparently, the trouble shooter. He put my name in to his computer, asked a couple of questions, and, boom, I was in. No problem. Except, why was I not in the system with the first lady I spoke to? Nemo informed me that there’s a new head honcho leading the management staff here at The Center. Later he would give them a “cheerful earful”.

So now I’m in the Media Center. Guess what? There’s coffee! Hot and strong
coffee, just like I like it. I’m in heaven. I’m looking forward to seeing all
the products I can see in this show. Lots of people are going to cover all the
biggies. You know, Epson, HP, Nikon, Canon, etc. But Tim Robertson, our
unflappable publisher, has assigned me to cover some of the smaller guys. The ones nobody’s heard of. At least, not yet. And that’s what’s exciting. Lots of great companies and great products have started small and grown into what are now household names. Ever heard of Apple? Microsoft? You get the idea.