Shewed Mac

Our Friendly Neighborhood Expo

© 7-13-01 Dean Browell

MacWorld New York 2001 begins in a matter of days, hours, seconds (depending on your anticipation level) and the feeling in the air is already one of frantic energy. The one-two punch of Apple's earning's reports being announced just before the Expo draws further attention to a company that could become the single bright light in the computer industry graveyard we've surprisingly stumbled into this season, or could finally fall victim to the same illnesses that have struck similar companies. Obviously, the fans are upbeat and have plenty of reason to be (bolstered by the "gimmie-that-back" snatch of the Education crown as recently reported). As some prepare our computers to watch the webcast, or our hotel reservations for actually attending, Mac users of all kinds have begun some ritual of preparation. Mine includes finding a suitable comparison in the trip and setting so I can properly synchronize my watch and mind to an event that dares to be an occasion bigger than the industry seems to be prepared to hold.

But we've never cared much for riding the norm before, so why start now that the norm looks so sickly? New York, here I come, here we all come and I know you think you're ready for us...but I hope we surprise you.

So in the anticipation of what is sure to be a MacWorld to remember for many reasons, as intrepid, average or even infrequent Mac users, we find ourselves biding time between news and rumor sites and participating in even more heated than usual forums. Mac interest is always at its peak around Expo time, and the news sites capitalize with accelerated content schedules regardless of the presence of accelerated content. How hilarious will it be if some of these rumor site's most wild concept sketches get proven correct? How sad will it be if they're all off the mark? Regardless of the frenzy of news that builds to a Ghostbuster-Zuul-like showdown the week before and of an Expo, many readers take their eyes and fingers to the forums where rumors, thoughts and concepts get far more air-time than they might usually during less tumultuous Mac moments in the year. In any case, responding in a forum is like licking your fingers: You do it because either you enjoyed the taste of something an awful lot, or because you've got no other visible means of getting the crap off your hands. With the frenzy of positive and negative emotions building, one thing still remains a sharp and clear constant: the buzz has indeed begun.

New York is a fitting setting for this event. In a city overtaken with the concepts of girth, population, and size, we have the Expo for the Underdog. Or, the Expo for the Elite? Either way, the "I [Apple Logo] NY" billboards and the fact that the acclaimed Javits Center is the home for our fair Expo in this fair city does lend a healthy tone of belonging. Apple belongs here, amongst the giants, even if it had to fight for the respect. Given this sense of collaborating grandeur, I still posit that Apple's underdog personae has its place in this metal metropolis, and for this simple comparison I look to one recognizable character: Spider-Man.

Spider-Man's city is New York, and not a fictional base, so the comparison is workable from that angle ( see the recently debuted movie poster for the Spider-Man movie- it's fantastic).

But to get down to business: here is a member of the fraction of beings on Earth who are super-human (major players in the computer industry) who belongs to no regular super-team (M$ OEM, or OS other than their own for the most part) and in fact isn't even among the most powerful of his kind. The public is strictly mixed on the topic of Spider-Man, with the news media mostly controlled by the blinding hatred for the wall-crawler put forth by one single entity of stubbornness: J. Jonah Jameson (guess who?).

But those who actually come into contact with Spidey, especially if he takes the time to rescue them, immediately respect and often love the guy (sound like any company we know?). His villains never learn, and he's often seen taking them out with some of the same moves that worked the first time they tangled.

One in particular that seems to never go away is a giant behemoth whose past is inextricably tied to Spidey's, and whose very appearance is a mockery of the design Spidey himself once wore with pride...this enemy is a slathering, powerful, untrustworthy foe who even gives other villains a run for their money. The villain's name is Venom, and no matter how many times you think Spidey's done enough to take him down, he comes back stronger than ever, sometimes even as an unwelcome ally (as if I have to say, Microsoft).

But base comparisons aside, I do feel a slightly deeper connection here. Spider-Man works to the bone, day in and day out to save the city from itself. He's hardly appreciated for his efforts compared to others of his ilk who work half as hard for twice the praise. But he continues, despite his own problems at home, or with family. He knows what its like to be picked on, and he knows that with great power comes great responsibility. And he gets the best view of why it is all worth it in the end: A view of a city that still exists, largely with his help, gleaming in the sun as viewed from the top of a skyscraper. And he didn't or couldn't simply fly there, like many companies -er, super-humans with more fantastic abilities (or capital). He had to climb, swing and leap there himself. But the view is worth it.

*Sigh* God I love comic books. I'm such a simple human.

So guess what I'll be thinking of as my train is pulled closer to New York's Penn Station? Surely my mind will perceive the skyscrapers in the distance as the playground for a web-slinging hero as well as the host city of Apple's intense and sure to be surprising Expo this year.

Once I check in my plan is to eventually end up at a press conference/animation viewing for Toon Boom Studios to kick off several days of appointments and demos. I'll log most of this down for more thoughtful reaction later, but I will be sending my take on the big Steve Jobs (think Tony Stark) keynote and the surrounding events in live updates to this site as we go along. So stick with us here for not only the juicy bits, but also the pulp. See you soon, from New York. Home of Spider-Man.

Dean