As you’ve probably heard, Apple announced today that this will be their last appearance at Macworld Expo and Steve Jobs won’t deliver the keynote address. Although Apple wasn’t an official sponsor of Macworld Expo, the event revolved around their announcements. This doesn’t mean that Macworld Expo will end, but I really don’t expect it to continue without them. Most likely the show will die in a few years, like the east coast Macworld Expo did after Apple stopped exhibiting there.
The timing of Macworld Expo soon after New Years was probably bad for Apple, since it meant they had to time their major announcements for January and miss the holiday shopping season.
TidBITS offers some good perspective on the announcement.
I already have my tickets & hotel reservation for Macworld Expo, so I’m still going and I’ll savor what will most likely be the last one I’ll attend. I probably won’t get up at 4AM to line up for the keynote, though.
I went to my first Macworld Expo in 1988, after I moved to Los Angeles, since it was a quick & inexpensive trip.
During Macworld Expo 1991, I got the news on the last day of the show that my father died and I walked around in shock the rest of the day before flying back to New York the following day.
After I left the west coast, I stopped going until a few years ago. Last year was one of the biggest shows, but this year was already showing signs of being a disappointment with Adobe and several other companies pulling out.