Apple Won't Be At Macworld Boston 311
analog_line writes "Apple apparently is none too pleased about the decision to move Macworld to Boston from New York in 2004. So much so that they have said that they 'will not be participating in Macworld Boston.' They are also considering pulling out of Macworld New York 2003, though they say they will be at Macworld San Francisco."
Big Dig? (Score:5, Insightful)
Are they insane? (Score:5, Insightful)
Following Apple's statement, an IDG World Expo representative said the company had no indication from Apple that the Mac maker would pull out of the show if it was moved to Boston.
Seriously, when you're doing *MAC*World, and making a major change, you'd think they'd ask Apple what they thought.
Is it still Macworld? (Score:2, Insightful)
Uhh.. communication? Hello? (Score:1, Insightful)
Macworld must realize that the only people go to the macworld expos anymore is that apple's gotten into the habit of practically never announcing new hardware or operating system upgrades except at macworld expos. Macworld probably should have somehow figured out before now that apple was going to leave if they moved to boston, or at least apple should have piped up a bit earlier to macworld about their unwillingness to work with Boston. Someone, somewhere, wasn't thinking very clearly. Who's going to want to go to the macworld expo if Apple isn't there? Will anyone? Especially if it's in Boston. ^_^
(Just checking: where are hotels more expensive, Boston or NY?)
Slump (Score:4, Insightful)
MacWorld [macworld.com] reports:
Product release schedules (Score:5, Insightful)
By only participating in one MacWorld per year they alliviate some of these problems.
I am not saying that I think Apple will go to a year long product release cycle, I just think they are actively fighting the pre-MacWorld sales problem. I also think Apple will continue with the recent trend of releasing more and more products out of the MacWorld cycle.
Boo-freakin'-hoo (Score:3, Insightful)
Damn.
Apple - Grow up. You have an immensely loyal user base, yet treat them like dirt. You abuse the community that gives you free development, you actively squash fan-motivated derivative works, you charge 2-3x as much as for comparable intel-based hardware, you engage in disgusting political maneuverings to squash (or obviate) bad press and speculation... Basically, you act just like Micro$oft, except lack the monopoly to pull it off.
Then you wonder why, with what I think most people would agree counts as a far superior OS to Windows, you have such a pitiful share of the desktop market.
Free clue - reward loyaly, ignore bad press (unless it deals with security issues, one of MS's bigger mistakes), and don't throw a tantrum whenever things don't go 100% your way. Oh, and try selling your hardware for reasonably competitive prices.
Re:Big Dig? (Score:2, Insightful)
Clearly you've never driven in Boston. It makes driving in Ney Your seem like a dream come true.
Re:no G5s or PPC 750s, then (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple has very little in the way of new products to announce for a while. Sure, there will be a PowerBook revamp soon, but let's face it, until a new PowerPC chip comes out, Apple basically has nothing that exciting to introduce. Sure, there'll be a new iApp or two, maybe some bigger monitors, or minor speed increases in existing lines, but that's hardly a very big deal.
People make such a big deal out of keynotes since Jobs came back that when there isn't anything big to introduce, there is a decent amount of bitterness in the Mac community. Jobs does not want to be in the position of creating bitterness by giving more keynotes with nothing to introduce.
Jobs has been trying to break the connection of product announcements with keynote speeches anyway. When everyone expects there to be big introductions at the keynote, people stop buying Macs before the keynotes, in case a product line is refreshed. This makes it hard for Apple to clear out inventory - why buy an iMac in June if you think a new one will be introduced in July?
MacWorld shows may no longer be as important as they used to be, anyway. Most hard-core Mac users - the kind who would pay for a ticket to the keynote, or pay to travel to New York/Boston - have Internet access and read MacCentral, MacRumors, etc. So it's not like Apple needs the convention to reach these people. Besides, this audience is basically loyal to Apple regardless of what Apple does. On the other hand, Apple does want very badly to attract new users - the switchers. The money spent attending MacWorlds may be better spent on more TV ads targetting PC users.
What the hell? (Score:5, Insightful)
*WHY* is Apple having such an immature hissy-fit.
Let's see, valid reasons for Boston:
Apparently, tradition. Until 1998, Boston is where MW Expo was held for 12 years in a row
Cost - Boston has offered some pretty serious discounts on the cost of renting their convention center for this show
Valid reasons for disliking a move to Boston:
None that I can think of. Apple hasn't given a *SINGLE* reason for their desire to stay in New York.
If Apple was based in the NYC area, I could understand it... But once you're crossing from the West Coast to the East Coast, who cares if you're going 200 or so extra miles? The difference in travel cost is negligible, especially considering the cost of actually hosting the show will apparently be far less in Boston.
I'm forced to agree with the guy who got marked down to -1 Flamebait for making the comment about Steve Jobs and a baby bottle. This decision by Apple is stupid, immature, and nonsensical (especially given Apple's financial state...)
Re:Can they afford to do this? (Score:5, Insightful)
My two cents.
Why Have MacWorld? (Score:2, Insightful)
Get some perspective (Score:2, Insightful)
Wha...? Do you really feel wronged by this decision? Personally hurt?
You abuse the community that gives you free development, you actively squash fan-motivated derivative works, you charge 2-3x as much as for comparable intel-based hardware, you engage in disgusting political maneuverings to squash (or obviate) bad press and speculation... Basically, you act just like Micro$oft, except lack the monopoly to pull it off.
You set 'em up, I'll knock 'em down.
People who really feel that they are being treated like dirt do not stay immensely loyal.
There's no abuse of their open source ties. If you think there is, prove it.
Actively squashing fan-motivated derivative works... ok look, they were the victim of the biggest UI ripoff in history. I don't really agree with their tactics but wouldn't you be a little touchy? After what MS did?
@-3 times the price... blahdefuckinblah. Old hat, not true, move on.
I actually would really like to hear about the 'disgusting political maneuverings' as I have no idea to what you could possibly be referring. Are they sending letters from dead people? Do they outright lie?
and don't throw a tantrum whenever things don't go 100% your way
I could not have put that better myself.
Re:Big Dig? (Score:5, Insightful)
Traffic, schmaffic. Even with the Big Dig, I'm not sure I'd say the traffic is much worse than downtown Manhattan. And, while admittedly I haven't driven in NYC since 9/11, I can't imagine that it helped matters any. Oh, and the major airports in NYC aren't connected almost directly to downtown by a nice convenient new tunnel, now, are they?
Besides, Boston's just as nice a place to have a convention. It's a very walkable city (attendees can follow the Freedom Trail after lunch and get some exercise), good transit, and John Harvard's, too.
Re:What the hell? (Score:3, Insightful)
Boston just doesn't carry that kind of weight all over the US or the world. You don't make as big a splash in Boston as you do in NYC. Everything is higher profile. Why do you think everything costs more in NYC?
Apple didn't build their flagship super-expensive store in Boston. They built it in SOHO. I've been to a few apple stores, and the one that opened in SOHO wasn't just another apple store... it was an event. A serious major super event that made the front page of apple.com. Why? Because it's New York City.
Apple wants the flashy splash that is New York. Everyone wants the flashy splash that is New York for a big event. That's why NBC, CBS, ABC, MTV and CNN all have shows that feature New York news/live shows with NYC and it's crowds as the backdrop. That's why Tiffany, Cartier and Toys R Us built their world-wide flagship stores in NYC.
Face it, there's a certain something about NYC... maybe it's becasue it's the cultural capital of america (and don't argue it's not... it's got more museums and the largest public library in the world) or maybe it's because it's where all the richest people are located (per capita, Manhattan's average income is a little over $100,000/person) or maybe it's the density.
I don't know why, but NYC carries a weight behind it and Apple sees this weight clearly. Most companies do. Boston is a great town, but it doesn't carry the clout that NYC does (frankly NO US city does).
Some clarifications. (Score:5, Insightful)
The $45 million dollar loss that people keep linking to comes from one-time charges, mostly Apple writing off investments--and when you have over $4 billion in the bank, losing $45 million is nothing. Had they not taken the write downs, they would have had an expected profit this last quarter.
This has NOTHING to do with hissy fits and everything to do with:
a)Not looking like they are abandoning NYC.
b)Apple knows that when they are in NYC, they have the ear of the media. Moving to Boston is not in their interest as they will get less ink.
c)When those costs are figured, suddenly it seems like an excuse to get out of/cut down on the Expos.
d)Wean people off of the Expo release/disappointment death cycle, which screws up their product flow.
e)Concentrate their money not on the Mac Geek Faithful but instead on Regular Folks Who Might Switch.
You look at all this, and it's a slam dunk...it's too good an opportunity to pass up.
Possibility: maybe Apple will take the money it saves and instead go to PCExpo, and make a stand for the Mac there. I can imagine this happening, as they'd get lots of press for showing up and would strengthen their committment to expanding the base.
If that is the case (Score:3, Insightful)
You want "flashy splash", NYC isn't the place to go - It's all about Vegas.
Re:Some clarifications. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Can they afford to do this? (Score:4, Insightful)
I like how people assume that those in charge of Apple have absolutely no business sense. While that may have been true in the past, and Steve's track record is a little spotty (anyone remember NeXT's marketing plan? Right.), they're doing pretty damned well for themselves.
Re:What the hell? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Can they afford to do this? (Score:1, Insightful)
Uh, no. Methinks you're confusing percentage of sales with percentage of installed base. Macs tend to have longer lifetimes than PCs, which means that their percentage of the installed base is larger than their percentage of sales.
NYC Trade shows are a pain (Score:4, Insightful)
too hard to wow folks every six months (Score:5, Insightful)
I would imagine that it is hard to "wow" folks on a set date every six months. People expect to get blown away by a Jobs keynote, however, that's kind of hard to do when a product isn't quite ready or a when a product is ready for sale months before Macworld.
Apple really been having a hard time syncing up with MacWorld dates during the past year so. MacWorld keynote have been fairly week, and Apple has been announcing and releasing a lot of products at "Apple Events," which they can schedule at any given time.
It'll probably be a hell of a lot easier for Apple to wow folks once a year at a set time, and at random Apple expos the rest of the time. But, nevertheless, it sure does look bad for Apple to back out of a huuuuuge trade show dedicated to them. At the very least they could show up and release a press release telling people not to expect new Apple hardware/software at they show. I think Apple should stick with Macworld, however they should inform their users, the press, and investors to concentrate on Apple events... not MacWorld expos.
Plenty of other stuff (Score:3, Insightful)
If you're addicted to CPUs, I guess. Most of the interesting stuff coming out of Apple has nothing to do with processors.
- Scott
A couple reasons why Apple's position makes sense (Score:1, Insightful)
* Second, Apple has just dropped a TON of cash into their "flagship" Apple store in NYC's SoHo (and continue to do so given the rents in that area.) The revenue lost from not having that week's income would be significant (not back-breaking, but it would seriously hamper the SoHo store's profitability.) For Apple SoHo, MWNY week is better than Christmas. I'm sure Apple's financial projections for this store included more than just two MWNYs. If the show's in Boston, what are they going to do, pack everybody into the CambridgeSide Galleria? More likely a lot of those sales will be lost to MicroCenter and the like or just simply lost.
--
Personally, I always thought the old Boston shows were much better than anything NY has produced so far -- I've been to three shows in each. The attendees in Boston seemed younger and more excited to be there rather than the more jaded professionals in the NY crowd. From a user's perspective, I'd love to see MW back in Boston, but from Apple's financial perspective, it doesn't make as much sense as NY does.
Why Apple didn't express this opinion BEFORE the deal was complete is a real head-scratcher, though. Perhaps they were just looking for a way to drop a second US show entirely without looking like the bad guy. IDG just gave them the excuse they needed.