Tech Post #5: Me & MacWorld


I printed out my MacWorld registration yesterday at work and had a few flash memories. Swapping stories with the creators of Myst, before the exhibit floor woke up. Trying to find my classroom to teach in, with my Faculty badge. Little stuff, but it placed me in a weird way. I’m excited about this year’s MacWorld for entirely different reasons- because Apple has become a world competitor and not just a “hometown business” that I support, and yet feel is the underdog. Because there’s a bitchen party… that I heard about via some writers… at a computer conference.

Exhibitor
I was working, in 90-94, for a Mac Software company, making animation software. At a MacWorld one year we had exhibitor space, and I actually ended up organizing our spot on the floor, and even got a turn on the microphone to show people how the blue ball danced about, onion-skinning, and yes, you could do this all from the comfort of your own home. Hold onto your seats! Our product was $99 and that really seemed like a lot. I lived in Cupertino at the time, and coming to SF for this conference was so urban an exotic. Actually, finding a place to make copies of our literature in the half hour break I had, that was urban and exciting.

Teacher
In 97 got a stint at teaching a class on publication processes for massive projects (the yellow pages, basically). Seems odd to me now that MacWorld was holding classes on stuff like this. It was before the really cool products came out- when the Internet was booming and Apple was looking around going, “What the s*** is happening?”

Always a Bridesmaid… Never a Bride
Adam over at Daily Tech Talk wondered why I never worked at Apple. There was a moment in early college when I drove over to Greenleaf Ave near my friend’s house, parked, and walked through the sound gate to Infinity Drive (yes, there is a back to infinity) and dropped off my resume at Apple HQ. I don’t know what I wanted to do. Something vague like “marketing” probably. I tried to get marketing jobs for years– and yet had no real concept what it was about.

Finally an Apple Marketer, Sorta
Ended up picking up a contract once as a copywriter for a smartcard product, run entirely by Apple ex-employees roughing it. Not sure if this is true now, of course, but man, where they catty! And the defensive underdog thing was in full flavor. Now I think it’s quite normal- the Dot Com bubble is going on around you and you’re at this hardware company that’s just not surviving very well, and you used to be the cream of the crop.

I know I should write about the iPhone and AppleTV, but hey, I have nothing to say. Well, I’ve been waiting to buy a $100 mini-DVD to HDMI cable because a little bird told me to wait until MacWorld. Check EnGadget, MacRumors, or Daily Tech Talk.

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