Apple Expo 1995 in Paris, Cyber-Boggle Show

15 Tons of Apples Devoured Last Year, European Growers Expect Another Sell-out.

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.

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Updated 09/95