SAN FRANCISCO, Macworld 2011 — Proving that the show can go on without Apple, Macworld 2011 opens today and is bigger and better than ever.
Well, bigger and better than last year.
This is the second year of Macworld without Apple, but the show has attracted 10% more exhibitors than 2010 and is on track for 25,000 visitors, organizers say.
“The show is shaping up good,” Macworld general manager Paul Kent told CultofMac.com. “If the numbers go right, we’re going to have about a 25% increase in attendance.”
Starting Wednesday and running through Saturday, Macworld won’t see anything like a new iPad, but will feature lots of iOS accessories, Mac software, and apps. Plus a ton of Apple fans, of course, which is really the point.
The lineup of products at the show reflects Apple’s product mix: about one-third Mac OS stuff and two-thirds iOS-related products. The biggest speaker is comedian Sinbad, who’ll be cracking jokes about his love of Apple on Thursday afternoon.
“It’s a really fun time,” said Kent. “Macworld is a celebration. There’s a high joy quotient. It’s a fun place to be. There’s not a lot of places were people can do this any more.”
Some stats:
- More than 25,000 attendees expected, based on the pre-show registrations
- More than 230 exhibitors. 53% new to Macworld
- More than 100 new products expected to be launched
- Official Twitter hashtag is #Macworld2011
Here’s some other things to look forward to:
Wednesday
Wednesday is the Industry Forum. Here’s the schedule. Highlights include:
10:40 am – 11:00 am – Harry McCracken, Editor, Technologizer – Thoughts on Mobile. Basically, iOS v. Android.
11:10 am – 11:30 am – Bill Atkinson, Apple programming legend and photographer – Trends in Human-Computer Interface. How computer UIs will become “a conversational user interface with a personal assistant avatar.”
3:30 pm – 3:50 pm – Mike Lawrence, Executive Director, Computer-Using Educators (CUE) – Apple’s Role in Ubiquitous Learning. How mobile will transform computers in education.
Thursday
10:00 am — Expo show floor opens.
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm — Sinbad. An hour of comedy with the long-time Macworld supporter.
5:30 pm – ~8:30 p.m — Tech journalist + app developer meetup at Wired HQ – free booze while you schmooze!
~8 pm — Cirque du Mac party. The best party at Macworld over in North Beach. Invite-only but not too hard to beg, borrow or steal a ticket. Try here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4ZMkkunnCE
Friday
9:00 – 10:00 am — Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit presents iFixit live! Wiens will teardown Apple gear and competing products like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab live on stage. Learn about trends in industrial design.
11:30 am – 12:00 pm — Zoë Keating, Cellist and Composer. The one-woman orchestra gives a cello and MacBook performance.
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm — Jordan Rudess, Keyboardist. Music Meets Multitouch. Check out the hard rock keyboardist playing the iPad.
Saturday
Saturday is the big day when people with jobs and schoolkids go. It’s usually a zoo. Free schwag though.
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander is an expert on:
Apple and Apple history
Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Tim Cook and Apple leadership
Apple community
iPhone and iOS
iPad and iPadOS
Mac and macOS
Apple Watch and watchOS
Apple TV and tvOS
AirPods
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
