I made the trek – not too far mind you – to MacWorld 2011 and found myself wondering whether MacWorld can survive another year and more importantly, after so many came back from CES disappointed, whether the technology trade-show itself can survive. Seriously, how many different iPhone cases does that average trade-show attendee really want to see? Considering how many Blackberry and Droid phones I saw, my inclination would be far fewer then were really there.

Of the products that were there, many seemed to be “coming soon,” and far less than ever before was really available to buy at the show. Overall, I walked away most of the cash that I came with, a couple of stickers, and a feeling of disappointment. I told my wife via text message that MacWorld was a lot like going to Fry’s, same size as the store, a lot of stuff that you would never buy, and shelf space showing stickers for stuff that you really wish you could buy.

Not that it matters with the amount that I haven’t [sic] been posting lately, but I’m off to MacWorld for the opening day. I won’t be taking in anything but the Expos, but I am still really excited to see what’s coming out for the iPad and how mature the iPhone market has become. Hopefully there will be some good products out there and maybe even a few fun ones, too.

If there’s enough good stuff, I will even add more to this post later on.

~geek

Its first year “without Apple” and Macworld seems to be doing okay – frankly I think that the break-away could be the best thing to happen to some of the smaller developers. This gives people the opportunity to make their wares shine without being overshadowed by the large Gorilla in the middle of the room. That said, it’s difficult to say what the end result will be and I wonder if MacWorld can or should continue.

What do you think?? Are you attending this year?

geek