[MacSpirit] Will Macworld no longer be a place for the true Mac fan?

by Rodney O. Lain

7/17/00

This is the only thing that made me feel alive since I met you.

Chester Himes, Plan B

For Christians and Jews, the ultimate vacation would be a spiritual excursion to Jerusalem. For Muslims, it's a pilgrimage to Mecca. For Mormons, it's destination Utah. I imagine every religious heritage has its Holy Land.

For Mac users, it isn't a matter of where, but more of a matter of when that holds "religious" significance. The when is January and July, the two months during which the Mac faithful gather in San Francisco during the winter and in New York City during the summer.

Get from under your rock if you don't know which one is happening this week.

For those of us who have never been, Macworld Expo is a rarely visited fantasy land, where one can touch the pulse of everything Macintosh within the span of a few days, within the span of one or two buildings.

Has the fantasy lustre lost its gleam to the Mac fans in attendance? Sometimes I wonder. Maybe that's why I'm beginning to question whether some segments of the Mac community are losing the sense of awe and wonder associated with the Expo.

While attending the last Macworld (San Francisco, January 2000), I saw more than Macs and stuff. I also saw a disturbing dynamic: for many, Macworld has turned into one big schmooze-fest -- nothing more than a sales and marketing opportunity. Maybe I'm a jaded journalist, turned off by the Mac web's merger mentality; maybe I'm just jaded, period, but it seems that the market mentality has overtaken Macworld to the extent that commercialism has co-opted Christmas.

I remember sitting across from the owners of one particular web site that I was writing for at the time. The occasion was a lunchtime discussion about the future of the web site and my potential contributions to that future. I was asked to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement, barring me from writing for any other sites. Whoa! I'd gotten into this web thing for fun only. Never in my wildest dreams would I have seen myself in such a situation.

Hence, I backed out of that outfit to maintain my freelance status -- heavy emphasis on "free."

This event weighed on my mind while walking the Expo floor the rest of the week. What happened to the fun and exciting aspect of being a Mac aficionado? I asked myself. Why can't we leave the balance sheets at home for a few days?

Now I know how Jesus felt in the biblical account in which he chased the "moneychangers" and snake-oil salesmen out of the Hebrew temple. I felt like shouting and chasing down two guys I saw at a dinner, who couldn't resist stepping aside and discussing how their web site should merge.

Of course, these were journalists, so I decided to spend more time talking to the run-of-the-mill Mac user.

These are the things that I fear may become far and few between as Apple continues to rise in prominence. Will we see Macworld Expo morph in to PC Expo, the only difference being Aqua-inspired motifs?

To me, Macworld isn't a geekfest, nor should it ever be; it's more of a bonding experience for the hundreds of attendees who've traveled from near and far for the sole bragging right of saying "I was there."

If you get a chance to attend Macworld this week. I hope that you will spend most of your time playing with the toys -- and hopefully buying some. Silicon Valley moguls' gotta eat, too, thank you very much. Save the power lunches for the home team.

Hey, guys, you can always schmooze with that potential million-dollar client after you return home.

After all, isn't that why God created e-mail and conference calling?

This column is © 2000 Rodney O. Lain. All rights reserved.

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About Rodney O. Lain

A former journalist and college prof, Rodney lives in Minnesota, where he freelance writes part-time and works for a Minneapolis-based software company. He has a soft spot for H. L. Mencken, Steve Jobs, Prince, Richard Wright and other well-known status-quo haters.

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November 22, 2008