Why Macworld is moribund — but not dead

The current economic climate and the old-world flair of traditional trade shows are often blamed for Macworld's slow, and somewhat humiliating, demise. After its move back to Boston — a thinly masked prelude to the cancellation of its east coast edition —, its original version is now widely suspected to be on its last legs. Certainly, IDG has announced there would be a 2010 Expo, but it may well be the last and they may only be announcing it because the space is already booked anyway.

I fear, however, that the current economic climate is wrongly blamed. While it certainly constitutes a strong incentive for Apple to withhold sumptuary expenses, it would not, by itself, justify putting an end to a tradition that is now over twenty years old. After all, the Macintosh world is faring better than ever, interest around Apple's technologies has swollen around the world, and I know of no geek that isn't in the least aroused by a beautiful UNIX-based platform like Mac OS X — even if it is not their primary operating system.

In fact, nothing would suggest that death bells are tolling for Macworld were it not for Apple's last-minute withdrawal. If Macworld is to Apple what cider is to the fruit, Apple's retreat surely means the conference is deprived of its roots, of its one and only way to exist.

Surely that can't be the case… Certainly, Apple is, by essence, the key player of the Mac market, the white-hot center of all things cool, but the platform extends way beyond the company's immediate reach. Many things happen in the Windows world at which Microsoft merely casts a remote glance, and I have never heard of the Linux community anxiously awaiting Linus' arrival to measure the success of an event.

Macworld's chief problem, it seems, is that the conference was built on a company, not on a platform. Without Apple, Macworld still has exhibitors, attendees, sessions and a packed social agenda confirming its existence. Unfortunately, none of the people who will be attending — or an underwhelming minority — are really attending Macworld for Macworld's sake: they are merely converging towards the Kaaba-like feature that is Apple's black-clad booth in Moscone center.

Had Macworld built an image for itself, independently from Apple and its announcements, Apple's withdrawal would certainly still have made the headlines, but I like to think it wouldn't have had the same impact. Whether Apple participates in the show does not make it any less of an important and exciting event. Meeting the people who develop most of the applications we use, laying our hands on gadgets and gizmos we have been lusting after for months but cannot afford, discovering new technologies and fresh inspiration between the washrooms and the Jamba Juice stand: such are the wonders of Macworld.

Of course, Apple's presence is overwhelming. With the notable exception of highly specialised trade shows in which the company was merely dipping its anthers a few years ago, I know of no event that Apple hasn't successfully made its own. Knowing the company's influence on Macworld, it is difficult to say whether IDG themselves could have whipped the Macworld brand into anything significantly foamy. To this day, many remain convinced both the magazine and the show belong to Apple.

What this means, of course, is that running Macworld without Apple won't be easy. Attendees who have booked their trips for this year will certainly proceed as planned, and Apple announced its withdrawal late enough to discourage smaller exhibitors from pulling out. Hence, Macworld 2009 will proceed as planned, leaving maybe just the faintest of aspartame after-tastes in the mouths of its most devoted partygoers.

Is there a future for Macworld? I believe there can be, provided IDG manages to build the brand during this year's session and over the next few months. By showing Macworld is, front and foremost, about discussing and expanding technologies that exist whether their begetter is in the audience or not, IDG can certainly give the event a new vitality and purpose.

In the meantime, I wish you all a very good year, and a wonderful time at Macworld!