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Computer show gets down to business
June 3, 1997
Web posted at: 11:42 p.m. EDT (0342 GMT)From CNN Interactive Writer Andy Walton
ATLANTA (CNN) -- Comdex Spring just isn't what it used to be, many of the trade show's veterans grumble.
A few years ago, they say, Comdex was a wirehead's paradise, the forum for everyone who was anyone in the industry to roll out hot, flashy new products, ready for market or not. Exhibitors were almost as competitive with their show-floor giveaways as with their products.
Welcome to Comdex 1997, where eye-popping product debuts on the floor are few and far between, and no one throws T-shirts into the crowd. Even Bill Gates, who used to offer visions of wallet PCs, was talking about scalability, market share, and corporate e-mail strategies. The three major manufacturers of microprocessors for Windows PCs -- heavyweight champ Intel and challengers Cyrix and AMD -- don't even have booths at the show.
Instead, Comdex is home to Uninterruptible Power Supplies and PC models old enough that they are actually available, cellular phones and laptop batteries. Techno-jargon has given way to management jargon; products are "solutions," companies are "enterprises." Gee-whiz stuff has given way to business stuff.
Show Director William Sell agrees that Comdex has changed. Comdex's audience is "not just anyone who uses computers anymore," Sell said. "Now, it is a corporate environment. It's not, unfortunately for many people, a place for mom and pop to come to buy computers."
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Nor is it a place for the untested bleeding edge. "The industry is really shifting, and a lot of those announcements are being made at Comdex Fall," Sell said. "Ten-thousand or so products were introduced in Las Vegas. In November, everybody announces it, then you come out here and see where the rubber meets the road on a lot of these products."
A sampling of the second-day crowd turned up minor complaints, but no general disgruntlement. "It was about what I expected," one man said, "but I was hoping Apple would be here."
Another unusual circumstance: Wednesday's keynote speakers, Larry Ellison of Oracle and Ted Turner of Time Warner, are from two companies that do not have a booth on the show floor.
Sell argues that the apparent absence is a consequence of the show's emphasis on products, not technologies: "Oracle is in dozens of booths out here, because their applications are being brought on line by other companies," he said. "It's bundled, it's packaged, it's in some kind of combination. The power of a Comdex show is that you're able to see that running the gamut."
The gamut, in this case, ranges from a wall-hanging TV from Mitsubishi (due in stores in September) to virtual reality helmets, in addition to the expected business gear. One of the most popular demos on the show floor is at a booth demonstrating massage products. Apparently, work-related stress has arrived along with Comdex's business focus.
- CNN Message Boards: Comdex '97
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