MacLive Expo hits London

Went to the show on the Saturday hadn't been since it was at Angel Islington. What a let down! If you were into to photography then you were at the right place. It should have been called the digital photo mac expo. We spoke to a few of the vendors asking them what had gone wrong & they said Mac had pulled out at the last minute! When they asked Mac why Mac weren't going to come Mac said that they had a high enough profile due to their new Apple store in Regent Street. What? It's called the MAC EXPO! To say they were furious is an understatement! Mac is one thing, but no Adobe or major software like Final cut, Maya, Logic smacks of conspiracie to me by the big boys. I got my ticket free & i'm glad I did. And no, I wont be going again to the London Mac Expo. I've read Coventry & Manchester have one so we might try there next year.

I attended the show on Friday and thought it was dire, despite having a free ticket. If that was the best that we could manage on these shores--with Apple, FileMaker and Adobe as no shows--then I won't be sad to see it go. Even if it does go ahead next year, without at least 2 of those 3 making an appearance, it won't be worth attending.

I got a mild kick out of the VMWare stand, had a chat with the MYOB staff and got good vibes from Konica Minolta. But that was about all that was worthwhile.

On the downside--and indicative of the issues this expo had--I got two minutes hands-on with a non-working iPhone at a 10' x 10' O2 stand (though the guy was really helpful), and watched one of the Apple managers spend at least 5 minutes of his talk trying to hit upon a young lady in the front row. (I think she had the good sense not to hang around after the 'talk' had finished.)

Complete waste of the £60+ train fare to get there, and--having left early--I ended up waiting 2 hours at St. Pancras 'cos that was preferable to spending any more time at the show.

Perhaps the Saturday, post Leopard release, was better, but without an Apple stand I doubt it. This seemed less like an Apple show and more like a fan club event that the big boys just 'let happen' rather than actively support.

Well, I have to agree with most of the comments above. Awful show and a waste of time, even with the free ticket. I missed last year's show but went in 2005 and thought it was only "OK" then, but compared to this year was 10 times better. The major companies' absence was very much felt, the stands that were there were poor and had nothing really to offer, there was tons of unused floor space so they were obviously struggling to put anything together. I doubt this show will even run next yeat (as it looks like there were few people over the three days - I was there on the Saturday afternoon - surely the busiest time? - and it was dead) but if it does, I won't be bothering going.

Well I attended the show today and was rather put off, I was half expecting the leopard buzz but it was not there.. i dont think i am going to attend this event anymore.. been for last 4 years.

I ended going up to regent street as they closed the store at 16:00 for the leopard launch and to be honest the queue outside was not that big..

i managed to get my hands on leopard for 15 minutes and boy oh boy you can tell the speed difference.. going to buy my copy tomorrow. if your going to the expo on saturday dont bother get a copy of leopard, stay at home and do your upgrade with a nice cold beer.

As I sat on the tube this morning to Olympia it was packed with teenagers. Hmmm I thought, perhaps the "teenagers taking over the Apple Stores" effect is spreading? But the optimism was short lived. As we walked from the station, the teenagers went into the Ski and Snowboarding show (also on at Olympia) and us straggling geeks walked around the corner to Mac Live Expo.

I don't think I've ever felt so depressed after spending £15. Not busy, very few exhibitors. It felt like a show for a dying platform rather reflecting the recent upsurge in the Mac. It's a shame because this show used to be packed and interesting. Not anymore. The vendors were very noticably absent this year and this is a big negative. In the past you could count on getting a good deal but Computer Warehouse pretty much had the show floor to themselves as far as sales go.

No doubt Apple knew exactly what they were doing by not attending but I honestly can't see this show running next year without them.

Ben - perhaps there will be more of a buzz tomorrow as its Leopard day. Don't let my miserable ramblings put you off - enjoy the show.

Im off to the Expo tomorrow (friday) im bit concerned that the show is a bit dissapointing for some.. and NO apple thats like having a birthday party and not turning up to meet your guests. I am a big apple fanboy and was seriously looking foward to playing with the Iphone at the expo... Im even taking a friend along who's never been before As i have been telling hm its a great event looks like im going to look like a right plum if we are only there for 15 miutes.. well i guess i can always head over to regent street and hang out in hope of getting one of those free leopard Tshirts.

Just got back - agree totally with No. 7. Awful show.

No Apple. No Leopard. No iPhone (demos). Very poor turnout indeed. I was in and out within 15 minutes! Any Apple store has far more to do and see.

Oh and then our wonderful (sic) Underground came to a grinding halt so I ended up spending longer waiting on cold platforms than I did at the show :(

Even with a free ticket, I felt I had wasted my money!

I attended today - and was rather disappointed by the lack of companies compared to last year. Heck Apple wasn't even there! Even Adobe didn't have their own stand and just had the odd person giving seminar's in other companies stands.

Not worth the effort, compared to the last 2 years.

Will Steve Jobs be attending? Is there any chance we will get a concrete release date for the iPhone here in Ireland?

I agree with the person above - bring on the multi-touch!