Entrance to the CNIT which is hosting Apple Expo 1995
15 Tons of Apples Devoured Last Year, European Growers Expect
Another Sell-out.
Richard Erickson's Paris Journal - Freelance Correspondent to the Paris Pages
All images copyright (c) 13 September 1995 Richard Erickson - used with permission
Paris-La Defense, Wednesday 13. September:- On the tenth anniversary
of Apple Expo in France and Steve Job's departure from the firm he
founded, the old show cranked up again to dish out its usual
brand.... of new Apples.
On the Monday after the three day show that was ten years ago I was
out of a job too, so it was kind of curious to be back again. Back
then, we had lasers beaming stuff in the air, we were drawing 'live'
with good-old black and white pixel MacPaint, the exciting stuff
didn't work, the prototype stuff was only photocopies, and Apple II
types went around sneering at the goofy-looking Macintosh; which had
then two candle-power of installed memory. Back then the Internet was
a CIA secret and the newest French telephone was a 1922 model.
Registration for entry cards under the high
arched ceiling of the CNIT at Paris-La Defense: lots of air and a
fair amount of patience.
In 1985, the show had 27,000 visitors. The press-release tells me
there were 100 k last year. So Apple has added an extra day, Sunday,
to try and beat the record again.
Before the sneers start, about those 'Mac-weirdos,' I would like to
divulge a secret. France is Macintosh country. Ol' smiling Mac has
nearly 20 percent of the PC market here, according to Dataquest. For
the last ten years, a Macintosh, while expensive anywhere, has cost
an arm and a leg in France and the French in their perversity - the
French are known to be thrifty, look at the Deux-Chevaux or the
Velosolex! - hah, look at the Ritz instead - the French buy the
things. Because they're chic?
Of course, percents are tricky. If only 10 PCs were sold in France
last year and two were Macs, that makes 20 percent. Ask Dataquest.
Not that I care, but if France Telecom didn't give away their blessed
Minitel, there might have been 30 PCs sold here last year.
Even though eWorld's official start during
the expo seems a bit uncertain, everything is 'cyber' these days.
Today, Wednesday, out at La Defense, there weren't too many visitors
to the show. School kids have Wednesday mostly off, but I guess they
were elsewhere buying designer school costumes in order to look like
basketball players, so they were not much in evidence. It was
possible to get a brochure from everybody. I got so many that I took
up two seats on the train ride home and now there are covering the
floor and when I need a 'fact' I pick one up and put the 'fact' in
here. This is getting tiresome and I think I will leave the 'facts'
where they are - good for keeping spilled coffee - it is really café
- off the carpet. If you really care about techno details, and this
is the Internet after all, there are plenty of 'facts' out there
somewhere if you know where to look.
What I will try and do until Sunday, is tell you what 'people' are
doing at Apple Expo and hopefully, what they are doing with their
PCs.
Stay tuned to this URL, because I don't think the people I'm going to
meet from now until next Sunday even know what a spreadsheet is,
whatever it is, or can 'code' their way into a video recorder - they
are most likely to be fooling around with art - this is Paris we're
in - or music, or maybe making naughty French movies; you know: all
that interactive multimedia cyberdog jerky QuickTime Midi real
virtual 3D stuff that they do with these 'those-other-guys' machines
they have.
If you stand this tragic stuff to the end, I promise to give you
a comic report from 'Intel-inside-my-head' World when it rolls around
to gay Paris.
Return to Richard Erickson's Paris Journal
Updated 09/95
