Apple's decision to withdraw from Macworld entirely has been generating a massive amount of feedback, both in our forums and the industry in general. Aside from the immediate impact, many are concerned that the withdrawal represents the end of the Macworld conference in general. Indeed, Apple's withdrawal from Apple Expo Paris has resulted in the cancellation of that show going forward.
Veterans of the Macworld show such as MacOSXHints' Rob Griffiths see it as the end of an era, and feel it represents a loss for the community:
The most-affected group, I think, will be the Mac fans who made the annual trek to the Expo. Speaking as one of those folks -- yes, it's my job to go, but I still have a blast going -- I'll definitely miss the keynote, the One More Things, the cool new products (not just from Apple but the other vendors as well), and that great psychological kick I get from seeing the show every year. But those aren't the things I'll miss the most.
Instead, what I'll really miss is the once-a-year chance to meet with people who I would otherwise never get to meet in the flesh.
Macworld.com's Jason Snell believes the expo could continue and be better off without Apple:
Macworld Expo is the premier showcase for third-party companies who develop products for Apples markets. And yet every year, those same companies schlep out to San Francisco to announce their next big products--and find their announcements completely washed away by whatever Steve Jobs announced on Tuesday morning. Completely washed away. Every company I've met in advance of Expo, I've implored to announce their product before Jobs gets on stage, because after that announcement everything else gets lost.
Analyst response has been mixed with some who believe that this means there will be no major announcements at Macworld, while others feel it is just a natural transition.
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