Macworld/iWorld Goes on Hiatus, No 2015 Event Planned

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Knew that would happen. After Apple pulled out, no one showed up. It turned into Accessory World like it was back in 2006. The smart vendors didn't return the year Apple left and those that did stay saw a much smaller crowd.

Same deal happened when Apple left Macworld Boston. They did it one year after and then stopped as no one showed up.

Apple doesn't need Macworld anymore. It use to be that Macworld was the place that you'd go to see Macs. Now with their retail stores, you can simply go down the block and see their products. On top of that IDG charged Apple a TON of money to be at Macworld. Every employee that they had manning their booth had to be paid for to IDG. Apple had to spend likely more than a million just to be at an event that was all about them. It was silly. On top of that, they had to make sure that their products were ready on time for the event, which they hated doing. Now they can announce and release products when they're ready, rather than having to be on the spot to release them for the Macworld event.

 

[TrentS]

Hiatus?

Hiatus seems like a funny word to be using here, unless they have plans on continuing later on down the road. If not, then it should say ...Comes to an end.

 

[macosxuser01]

Remember my brother driving to a Macworld keynote event from Sacramento with his windshield wipers not working. I believe it was when Steve showed off OS X Tiger

 

[wordoflife]

I forgot this was a thing.

 

[Goftrey]

An inevitability since Apple stopped turning up. Still a big shame.

 

[Parasprite]

That was only slightly unexpected.

 

[AppleInLVX]

That's it. Apple is doomed. Remember what happened when Blackberry events started to be cancelled?

Still, kinda sad there isn't a passionate community that can keep it going. Are all us fanboys retreating into deeper levels of introversion?

 

[azentropy]

I mourned in 2009 when the true MacWorld EXPO ended.

 

[arkmannj]

Even though I never had the opportunity to physically attend, the news still makes me a little sad.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Same deal happened when Apple left Macworld Boston. They did it one year after and then stopped as no one showed up.

A big part of the problem with the East Coast MW expo was that Steve was adamantly opposed to it being held in Boston. IDC moved it to NYC for a year and it turned into a logistical nightmare.

 

[Cougarcat]

HUH? Macworld WAS in SF.

They're saying that it needed presence on both coasts. That used to be the case when Apple participated, but the audience is no longer there.

 

[AppleWarMachine]

iWorld..sounds like a magical place...maybe Apple wants to claim this name for its new headquarters

 

[heeloliver]

It's a new era with Apple and the events that used to surround it.

 

[Solomani]

Likely though it might have been, it shouldn't be called a certainty. The interest in Apple is far greater now than it was when the expo was going strong (and was held twice a year). The problem was finding new footing for the event after Apple bowed out, and the pullback in spending by tech companies on expos. That started with the dot-com shakeout in the early 2000s and never recovered to those levels.

IMHO I was convinced that MacWorld's days were numbered the very day Apple announced they would no longer participate. With certainty? Well, it was more like an eventuality.

A gross (theoretical) analogy would be like saying "Will NATO survive if the USA ever pulled out of NATO?" Well, maybe the other member-nations might still hold it together for a few more years, but eventually… it won't be NATO at all any more, and will likely disappear altogether with US support gone."

And don't get me confused with several of the Expo haters in this thread. I have a signed copy of my original Bondi Blue iMac poster… with the signature of comedian Sindbad when I saw him at MW Expo. I'm sure you realize that he was one of the old guard celebs that were frothingly pro-Apple in those days, and would make cameo appearances at Apple events. The only other "Apple signature" I have is that of CEO Gilbert Amelio. Shook my hands and signed autograph for me at MW Expo San Francisco, he did this mere months before he brought back Steve. Amelio was a nice guy, warm and personable. Not a jerk at all. He would mingle and shake hands and sign autographs with the common Mac fanboys in the expo exhibit halls. Jobs would never have done this (unless someone proves me wrong)

I loved MW Expo. But I knew it was going to die the moment Apple pulled out. Oh well.

 

[Popeye206]

Not a surprise… trade shows are dying in many industries… too expensive to attend, too expensive to exhibit, and shrinking attendee numbers. Also, given that CES is "the show" for technology… having a Apple only show is sort of repetitive for many vendors.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

A big part of the problem with the East Coast MW expo was that Steve was adamantly opposed to it being held in Boston. IDC moved it to NYC for a year and it turned into a logistical nightmare.

It still wouldn't have lasted even if everything went well. They didn't have enough attendees to support that size of conference on both sides of the US each year at the time and even more recently, we've seen that there isn't enough to support such things.

 

[iShater]

The surprise for me was that Macworld magazine stopped. I stopped my subscription a while back because I never got around to actually reading the magazine, didn't know they stopped it

 

[iThinkIt]

Trade shows in many different areas are becoming or will go the way of the dodo bird... I can say for sure in my arena of work the I have seen the trade shows get smaller and smaller each and every year for many reason.. to many to list.

 

[VeryVito]

Even with Apple on site, the days of any location-based expo were fast becoming numbered. Like quarterly trade magazines, such product-centered expos are little more than a remnant of the days before the internet -- when one had to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to see the latest technology in action. Today, we have YouTube, streaming (complete with Chinese interpretation) and the general internet to tell us all we need to know.

Sure, the experience of "the event" is still fun, but its actual usefulness has long been a thing of the past. Good times, though. Good times.

 

[OriginalMacRat]

I stopped going 2 years ago. I've been to every Macworld since 2003.

You never saw what MacWorld was really like then.

MacWorld never recovered after 2002. Many of the vendors stopped showing up and had "not at the show" specials.

 

[macjonny1]

I remember looking forward to this year after year for the newest products like the PowerBook G5

 

[Parasprite]

Remember my brother driving to a Macworld keynote event from Sacramento with his windshield wipers not working. I believe it was when Steve showed off OS X Tiger

Knowing about the windshield wipers not working is a detail that makes me really feel like I was there.

I can just feel the anxiety as rainwater is flooding every inch of the car; the windows revealing only a murky scene of vehicle-and-brick-coloured buildings all around. Slowly... Inch. by. inch. As you feel the struggle... not knowing if you will even make it...all the while realizing that you couldn't prevent yourself from crashing even if you tried. And then... you finally see it. As the sun peaks through it illuminates that huge, familiar Apple logo in front of you. A wave of relief hits you as the rain slowly lets up, and eventually, stops. It is then that you know you made the right choice to come.

You know, unless it wasn't actually raining...because if it wasn't, that would make this a weirdly specific detail for you to remember after all these years.

 

[macduke]

With all the MFI stuff, HomeKit, and everything else Apple should sponsor their own Expo. It could be really fun! Pick a time of year that doesn't conflict with everything else and make it happen.

 

[Solomani]

Trade shows in many different areas are becoming or will go the way of the dodo bird... I can say for sure in my arena of work the I have seen the trade shows get smaller and smaller each and every year for many reason.. to many to list.

Such a different era, today's world.

Technology has brought us "closer" via the internet… and yet it has actually made us more "distant" as human beings.

MacWorld Expo was the trade show that made it possible for legions of Apple fans to physically congregate into one place. I've met friends there, made friends there. We would all go out and hit up the "after-parties"…. some in downtown bars, others were lavish gigs (VIP parties) hosted by giants like Adobe, Microsoft, etc.

If anyone has even been to a San Diego Comic-Con… then you understand the overwhelming fanaticism of the comic fanboys who congregate yearly for their shared enthusiasm of the industry and culture. THAT is analogous to the kind of fanatic enthusiasm that MW Expos provided to Apple loyalists.

That kind of "gathering of fanboys"…. will never happen ever again for Apple enthusiasts. I'm just glad I was able to experience a few during my lifetime.

 

[aaronvan]

Seems fitting, especially since my Macworld subscription met an untimely end, too.