MacWorld Expo

I went to the MacWorld Expo today. It was lack luster to say the least. I’ve been going for the past few years now and like another reviewer said, it’s going down hill. I felt like I wasted my day. The best part was lunch at Mel’s.

Meh. MacWorld/​iWorld has certainly gone downhill over the past couple of years. Even after Apple pulled out of the show, things were still pretty good for a few years. However, almost all of the name brand accessory makers have also now pulled out of the show, and I found most of the vendors to have bizarre, low quality products or services intended solely for the enterprise.
Unfortunately, the magic of MacWorld is gone, and CES might be the last exciting tech trade show around.

This event has low reviews and I’ll admit I didn’t expect too much upon arriving at the event but I was pleasantly surprised by how many accessories and devices there were out there that were made for computers, phones and tablets.
I ended up buying a mini attachment for my iphone that would allow it to attach to any regular tripod. I didn’t buy the tripod there because I got one for cheap on amazon instead but the expo introduced me to lots of new gadgets that I had never previously seen or thought of.
The dumbest product I saw there was a plastic cover for tablets that allows you to cook in the kitchen and use the tablet for recipes without getting the tablet dirty. Saran wrap also does the same exact thing for way cheaper. I also never knew that there were lenses and filters you can add to your iphone to change the quality of the pictures. I am sure there are also apps that can do similar functions.
Perhaps for a person who is already tech-​saavy this expo wont be especially enlightening. But for a novice to all things tech like me I found the expo to be a good learning experience. I also got a really cool picture of me made of words form the wallstreet journal that described my interests (science, etc.)
Plus, you get a free lanyard. I guess that’s not too exciting but hey, free things= a plus.

I am not going to next macworld for sure. I am not sure what’s the concept of this expo anymore ever since apple cut’em off. Its like a big farmers market like concept to sell apple accessories, and showcase new tech etc. Its definitely not worth go with a paid ticket.

BEST: Can get a variety of Mobile Device and hand held cover cases.
They do showcase blue screen technology and the latest camera, plus have a few companies speak about their products. Some giveaways are fun like keychains and earbuds.
WORST: Ever since Apple brought their products for show in their individual stores, MacWorld has pretty much dwindled to just selling accessories for Apple products and showing off trinklets you will never by like a turntable for your record player.
Macworld used to encompass 2 buildings of Moscone Center. Now it is sadly just one large room in one of the smaller buildings in Moscone.

Oh dear. I saw that every Groupon patron registering to get into the MacWorld Expo (Area 2) was just as frustrated as I was. There was a specific way to register and they had no «cheat sheet» of telling you how to do it. After pressing the wrong button, it took me to the registration page, where I filled out all my information, then told me to pay $ 25. This can’t be right, I paid.
When I asked the guy who was helping people out, he said that it I had restart. Talk about a bad registration system! I was ready to walk out. It shouldn’t have to be this complicated to come to a conference.
When we got inside, there wasn’t anything interesting going on. Vendors selling stuff that all looked alike. I did however enjoyed sniffing the fruity flavors at the oxygen bar. Seven minutes at the bar was worth the 20 minute wait, I thought.
After roaming around and seeing nothing of interest on the exhibitor’s level, it was closing up already. So we decided to head on upstairs to the extremely huge drum circle. Of course, we got our grove on drumming aside the 300 participants and the director, who was all dressed in hippy wear.
I would say joining in the drum circle was the best part of just paying for an exhibitor’s pass. I think everyone who came should’ve took part of being hippy for just one hour.

I got to come for free. A lot of exhibits, but nothing that was incredibly mind blowing. I did like the Video Camera demonstration as well as some other demonstration for headphones for athletes.
Aside from that, everyone else was what you’d expect. Kind of awkward.
Still, I had a decent time. I think it would have been better if I had gone with a friend, but I was alone. Some of my friends were working a booth, so they couldn’t walk around with me.
I wouldn’t mind coming again, but I would not go out of my way to.
I think I was the only one there who didn’t own any apple products!
I get that it’s MACworld, but they just didn’t really cater to people who are interested in Apple products, but for some reason or the other don’t own Apple products… whether it be because of the cost /​whatever.

I got to attend this event free through my friend who got some kind of online promotion. I had high expectations as this was my first time at a MacWorld Expo. I honestly felt like strange going to this as I am not an a typical Mac user, but it really didn’t matter. I hate to say that most of the vendors were selling cases, covers, screen protectors, and/​or mounting related products for use on the iPad.
Nothing sparked my interest here, and a lot of the software seemed useless. I’m seriously glad I did not spend any money getting in this Expo, and I sadly enjoyed the magazines more than the convention itself.

I agree with other reviewers that this exhibition is really kinda lame. Majority of the exhibitors are just selling iPhone/​iPad cases, stands and skins. Might as well call this iAccessories Expo. This is not an exhibition of the latest technologies nor anything even remotely intriguing. It was a let down. Thank goodness the tickets were cheap and I was able to get a good discount for a really good design magazine subscription.

No Apple, No Steve Jobs keynote, No exciting new Apple products = a very, very dull Macworld Expo. Why bother when the star of the show is missing? I don’t get it. I’ve never seen so many useless ridiculous products. I did buy a Gary Baseman glow in the dark Mimobot USB drive. The real highlight was meeting the elusive Ed U!!! What a surprise… my first Unilocal celebrity sighting, and my favorite reviewer no less!

Luckily I got the tickets for free or else I would be even more disappointed. Macworld was quite boring and it seemed quite smaller than I expected. There was some cool software and hardware demonstrations but it seemed it was mostly a convention to sell ipod/​ipad/​iphone products. I think we went through the entire floor in 40 mins. There werent even any good freebies. I am certain that I wont be back next year and years to come. PCs FTW!

Last time I came to MacWorld Expo was in 2009… the last year that Apple participated. I didn’t hear much about 2010, but I signed up to come in 2011 since it was free anyways.
I wasn’t too surprised that MacWorld has gotten a lot smaller. Registration was extremely fast and efficient (less than 1 minute), then my friend and I went in. Last time, it took me at least 2 days to go through the entire exhibit hall. Today, it took 2 hours. Sure, we were under pressure by the parking meter (1 hour max, had to keep feeding it quarters, and $ 3.50/hour!!), but we found that 2 hours was actually enough time to look at every booth and stop a little longer at the ones we were interested in.
MacWorld 2011 seemed to be focused on the iPad. There were some decent show discounts, but other than that, it was pretty meh. Not much freebies… I’ve gotten more stuff from other trade show exhibit halls! And only maybe 2 – 3 accessories actually caught my eye (I did purchase a waterproof iPhone/​small electronics case). There wasn’t even much entertainment/​activities.
I still had fun, as I always try to make the most out of everything I do, but I don’t think MacWorld will be sticking around much longer… I don’t even know if I’ll bother registering for next year.

Ehh, it was ok. I’m not a techie — I don’t have an iPhone nor an iPad. I just went because my bf likes this kind of stuff and we got a $ 10 three-​day pass via Groupon to the Expo. I figured, why not? Lots of booths and vendors with interesting inventions and accessories to amplify your iPhone/​iPad/​Mac experience. There weren’t any freebies though except for a huge big blue reusable bag, some magazines, literature, candy — not that I needed anything, but it would’ve been more fun if they gave out more stuff. My bf was disappointed that more video editing vendors weren’t there.
Out of it all, I think I liked the people watching of all the other attendees most — funny, nerdy, geeky, smart, funky, hee hee. Maybe I blended in? Haha! We watched some guy make a music track on Garage Band — I didn’t know much about this feature, so maybe I’ll play with that a little on my Mac.
All in all, it was an ok experience, good to do it once, but I don’t think I’ll be clamoring to attend again next year unless I hear that it’s ultra, stupendously good. I was expecting more from the Expo.

I was expecting so much more! I’m no Apple lover, but I am interested in the latest technology. Honestly the only reason I came was because I got a free ticket to the expo.
I got really rude customer service when I went in to get my badge. Then even though this place was super crowded there weren’t many exhibits to see. There wasn’t much swag either. And the people priced their items so ridiculously high.
Sad. Just sad.

2011 sucked even more than 2010. The hall is a lot smaller and even less people selling different items. I feel sorry for the people who actually paid to come.

I too have been a Mac user for the last 14 years that I’ve owned a computer and now I own ipods and a iphone… so yeah, I’d say I’m a diehard fan. I’ve been going to the shows for the last 5 or 6 years, I have a buddy who works for Apple that we like to meet up at the show and he shows us the newest and coolest stuff… But this year our buddy had to go to Tennessee and as we went on our own, not having Apple to see all the computers up close and personal for questions and just plain old touching… well…
And I like to stop by Adobe to ask a few Photoshop questions each year, well no go they weren’t around.
No Printer companies, camera companies, or even MacAlley? Wow…
Yes I bought a cheesy cover for my iphone and my husband got this new fangled one that has a charger built in. But they only took cash (no credit cards or debt cards) if the booth would even sell stuff at all. Most booths gave a discount but you had to order their products online… booooooo!
For the most part very low key and really lacking some of the bigger vendors we are used to seeing and purchasing hard drives and keyboard, and etc. AND! I guess since we got there at 11:30 and the doors opened at 10:00 we missed out on getting a bag to carry all those flippin’ flyers you get from each booth… and when I did finally purchase a phone cover and now had a box to carry, those folks didn’t have bags either! FAIL!
So I give the show a MEH… I’ve experienced way better…

this was like having a birthday party for Lady Gaga and not only did Gaga NO-​show, but all of her flamboyantly entertaining friends decided to skip the party too.
boo!

Let’s face it. We Mac people, although we would like to think that we rule the world when it comes to the high-​tech industry… well, we don’t really as much as we like to say that we do. MacWorld this year was a true representation of what has happened both in the economy and with the recent drop out of Apple from MacWorld.
I’m a die hard, 20+ year veteran Mac user and proud to say I have been to at least half a dozen MacWorld Expos. This year, however, was a big let down. The trade show only covered one ½ of one side of Moscone Center. All third party vendors, BUT (and to most this is not news) no Apple, Adobe, Belkin, Canon or most of the usual suspect big name players. Even HP’s booth seemed to blend in with the mundane showing of booth after booth of not so interesting products. ¹⁄₅ of the floor was occupied by indie/​special interest exhibitors who talked about their products from single podium style kiosks. Not a bad idea, but they were so far spaced out that it made the area feel too vacant. Overall the expo was not even a shadow of CES!
This year’s focus was primarily on in-​ear headphones (and ones with bling), iPhone apps, cases and cable solutions. I was glad to see my personal local faves, Palo Alto’s Speck with their innovative cases and Monster Cable, (from Brisbane) whose booth mostly featured their headphone category. I was hoping to see new and exciting programs for Creative types but this was definitely the Year of Accessories. It was good to discover another contender to the Belkin vs. Monster war of wired accessories for car, power, and iPod/​iPhones: Schosche. Their beefed up line of products had a good amount of foot traffic and people toting their purchases in their Schoshe bags… which leads me to another thing.
Who doesn’t love swag? Part of why you go to any expo is to collect free goodies, brochures, and cool printed and designed bags to stuff all your scored loot. As a graphic designer, we LIVE for this kind of stuff! This time, no free bags unless you purchased something. Ok, I’m always for being more eco-​friendly, but it was kind of like going trick-​or-​treating without having a bucket for your candy.
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My Awards:
Most Ridiculous of Show: iPhone Gloves. If you have to use a glove ala Michael Jackson style just to use your phone, maybe it’s not the right kind of phone for you.
Favorite Creative Products: Customizable iPhone Cases from both Uncommon and Trexta. A couple unique ideas for cases that you can upload and print your own artwork on and ones that you can actually doodle on like a sketch pad.
Most Unique and Trendy: Although cute animé characters/​animals are not my thing, I can see BONE being a huge success with their Japanese style USB products.
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I took home with me the latest MacWorld and iPhone Life magazines (um yes, there’s a magazine for that), a few sell sheets, a coaster that I used at a bar that night and a bit of pride for supporting an industry that I love. Hopefully next year will be back to bigger and better!