Macworld Perspective Part II

Macworld Perspective Part II

With all the travel getting to San Francisco behind me, Tuesday would turn out to be both a busy day, and a very long one. Because I had arrived late on Monday, I was not able to get my media badge. I asked Guy Serle via the cell phone if he could possibly pick mine up when he went to get his, but the powers-that-be would not do it. I had to pick it up myself. Guy did tell me that they would open at 5AM on Tuesday, so I had a good two hours or so of sleep before I was in a taxi heading for the Moscone center.

Arriving at 5AM, I thought I would be one of the first people there. I was wrong. Turned out, people had started lining up for the Steve Jobs keynote at 11PM the night before, and by 7AM, there were at least five thousand people in line. (I actually filmed the line, from start to finish, and will post that soon.) But my task was not to get in line, but rather get my media badge.

For those who don’t know what a media badge is, think of it as a press badge. It let’s everyone know you are press, not just a visitor walking the showroom floor. It also means you get into the keynote via the media line, not having to wait with everyone else. In years past, this meant you actually got into the hall first, sat down, and watched the paying patrons arriving later to take their seats.

When I first arrived, shortly after 5AM, I went to both Moscone South and North, but neither had anyone working who could procure my media badge. A little worried that this would cause me to miss the keynote, I tried every door and person I could find, until around 7AM or so, when I finally was able to get my badge.

Going back to the keynote line, I talked to Shawn King for a little while and his producer, Scott, until John Nemo and David Weeks showed up. It was a mess, as there was no line for media, and unlike other years, the main audience was let into the hall before the media. In fact, media was not allowed into the keynote until a scant fifteen minutes before Steve Jobs took to the stage. In hindsight, it really made no difference, but everyone in the media line agreed that this was the most unorganized keynote they had ever been a part of. When we were finally let in to take our seats, it was a mad rush to the escalator and a sprint to get good seats. While this was totally unacceptable behavior on the media’s part, it was also a sign of how pissed off they were for being treated like crap by either the Apple folks, or the IDG people. I am not sure who was in charge of organizing the lines, who was let in and when, but it was a fiasco, and I am amazed no one (that I know if) was hurt in the melee that followed.

I ended up sitting in good seats next to Nemo. As I wrote in another post, it was fun to be able to sit next to John, and share some thoughts during the keynote. It was a little disappointing that almost the entire keynote was about the iPhone, with a little AppleTV thrown in, and that nothing about the Macintosh was there. If I am not mistaken, this thing is called Macworld Expo, and Mac news and products were left out.

Being the master showman he is, (or salesman, depending on your point of view) there is no denying the fact that the mood in the keynote was infectious. Every single person in that room was ready to name their first-born after Steve Jobs if he would have allowed us the chance to own an iPhone right then. It is a cool product, possibly one that will change the cell phone landscape for all time. But right then, sitting in that hall, every single person was blown away.

After the keynote was over, the rest of the MyMac folk met up at the press room in the North hall of Moscone. Bakari, who I met in person for the first time in the media line going into the keynote, David Weeks (ditto), John Nemo, Guy Serle, and newcomer Larry Grinnell.

Having met Nemo and Guy in person before, as well as countless hours talking to both on either the telephone, iChat, or Skype over the years, there was no surprises there. I had known David Weeks for years as well, although this was the first I had ever met him in person. Same with Bakari, although less so than those three. The real newcomer on Tuesday was Larry, whom I had only briefly talk to via Skype once, and had recently posted his first (and then) only article on the site. You would never know by looking at them, or even talking to them, but Larry and Guy are brothers. Larry is a little older, but far shorter. For some reason, I immediately liked Larry, and ended up spending the majority of my time at the expo in his and Guy’s company. While you don’t see Larry on any of the video reports from the showroom floor, he was there for every one. His help, simply put, was invaluable, and he is one of the nicest and most intelligent people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. If you can’t tell, I like Larry a lot.

We made plans, and headed out to the showroom floor to get the lay of the land. We filmed some short pieces for the website, talked to a bunch of companies, and had some really good Chinese food for lunch.

After the show closed down for the day, Larry and Guy went to the Macworld party, which I had not registered for and wish I had. Cheap Trick ended up playing the show, which I would have loved to see. But I was busy editing video in my hotel room, and because of a snafu on my part getting the camera settings right, all the audio that first day was horrible. I did my best to fix the problem, but the result was not very good.

Thus ended my second day at the expo.

Part III later.