Devoted to hardware, software, IT issues, and information technology management

By YC from the Technocrat Soapbox,
Guest Blogger

Unless you had no contact with the civilized world this past week, you would have known that North America's largest Consumer Electronic Show, CES 2006, was held in Las Vegas. CES 2006 opened with a BANG on January 5th and ended with a whimper yesterday afternoon.

Just as CES 2006 wound down, another show started today, the 2006 Macworld Conference & Expo started at San Francisco.

To the legions of Apple Fans, Macworld is not just another technology exhibition; it is pilgrimage season to the 'Mecca' of the 'Apple way of life.'

Some ridicule Steve Jobs and Apple for being arrogant, choosing to host their own Expo instead of joining the party at CES 2006. But with a wide spectrum of products (e.g. Apple II, Macintosh, Power Mac G5, XServe, iPod, iBook) that became CULTURAL SYMBOLS over the last three decades, Apple has always been the iconoclast of its day (the first Apple PC sold for $666 and the company logo harks back to a time when man disobeyed God).

So, how different is Macworld from CES 2006:

 

	Macworld Expo	CES 2006
Location	Moscone Center, San Francisco	Various Convention Centers and Hotels at Las Vegas
Event Organizer	IDG World Expo	CEA
Number of Exhibitors	~ 300 (Centered around Apple Products)	~ 2,500 (Varied)
Attendees	Estimated to be between 30,000 and 40,000.	~ 150,000
Must-Attend Keynote Speech	1 (Who else would it be? This is "HIS" show)	2 or 3
Accessibility	Parking is sparse and expensive. Public Transportation is the best.	Easily Accessible. Ample parking facilities and public transportation.
Accommodation	Moderately Expensive (in the outskirt) to Very Expensive (in the city).	Very Affordable to Very Expensive.

Like CES 2006, rumors are already flying around about what Steve Job is going to unveil at Macworld this year (besides the INTEL-Powered Mac).

For more information: Please read the Macworld Expo primer at the Technocrat Soapbox.