Macenstein

Uh oh, looks like Apple-themed conventions are falling like dominoes. Our good friend Arnaud over at the French site Mac4Ever has alerted us that the powers that be behind the Apple Expo in Paris have announced they will not be putting on the event this year. The 2008 Expo was the first year that Apple did not attend the French gathering of the Mac faithful, and apparently the turnout was so dismal that the promoters will no longer seek to produce the event without Apple’s presence.

Taillandier took the opportunity to take a small shot at Apple, saying the timing of the Macworld pullout announcement (a full year in advance) was much kinder than the only 3-month notice they got before Apple announced they were dropping out of the Paris Expo in 2008.

Apple yesterday announced that it had been steadily pulling away from all the big names industry shows including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris, and actually cited its chain of retail stores as its new way to interact with the populous. Macworld San Francisco had been the lone hold out.

So, now the real question is, without Apple’s guaranteed yearly presence, how long until the Macworld SF convention folds? Obviously there is enough of a pro-Mac base in the US to support the convention in some form for many years to come, however I have a feeling it will be steadily seeking smaller and smaller venues with a probable VFW Hall in 2011 – and by 2013 odds are Macworld will be held in some guy’s basement amidst hanging laundry, folding chairs, and unused exercise machines such as the Bowflex (which is probably being used to hold the aforementioned laundry).

And I am totally going that year.