MacWorld Debrief

I’m back. Connectivity in my San Francisco hotel sucked so I didn’t even bother to try to blog. Then when I got back to So Cal I was immediately buried by the shit that had piled up in my absence. Happy 2007.

I am so glad I did MacWorld. I shot a ton of video during the keynote. Actually when I was in the three hour line waiting to get in, I ran tape and later discovered that whenever I closed my LCD it didn’t pause recording. There may be some interesting moments in the audio. Now all I gotta do is find the time to go over the recordings. Ack. It’d been seven years since my last MacWorld prilgrimage and all I remembered was the amazing energy of being there for a steve jobs presentation. From what I later heard, Steve was particularly on top of his game and really charged up for this presentation.

It’s hard to communicate what this trip meant to me…

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Bumpy Road Back

So, I felt rushed this morning and didn’t get my usual Friday morning Jamba Juice. Pretty much didn’t get any school stuff done over the break & it wasn’t going to get done last night or this morning. So I wasn’t really feeling on top of things this morning. Then during 3rd period another teacher came to the door wanting to talk to me. I was in the middle of a lesson but this person said it’d just take a second. Turns out that I put a picture in my school christmas card that really offended this person. This person was so offended that after school I get to explain that I didn’t put the picture intending on offending or misrepresenting this person. Crap. Happy New Year to me. JBB

1st Casualty of the Trip: My iPod Headphones

Thank God I packed my Grados (although they look very geeky… ack). JBB

MacWorld Bound - Hurry Up and Wait

4:37 am
Hurry up and wait. No real sleep last night (actually this morning, I’m notorious for cramming as much as possible into the eve before travel), up at three, out the door at four and now waiting for the shuttle driver to get me to the madness that is LAX. I think my carry-on backpack weighs three-times more than my check-in bag. Ack. Jbb

5:30 am LAX
Hurry up and wait indeed. There were open terminals for electronic ticketing but the people in the front of the line insisted on waiting until a terminal opened up where a gate attendant was close by, that is, until an attendant pointed out to the persons holding up the line that they could use the open terminals. Then the race began to get to one of the open terminals. By the time I got to the front of the line I didn’t see anything open in front of me or on the left. Someone behind me said something about there possibly being two open terminals on the far right. I couldn’t see beyond the pile of luggage and big people hovering around the luggage. What the heck, i decided to follow the suggestion of the voice behind me and found indeed that there were two open terminals. That done, it was now time to deal with the goodwill of the TSA personnel.

Shoes untied and ready to be removed; Belt, cell phone, iPod, wallet (except photo ID and tickets), keys and anything else all tucked away in my heavy backpack; Ready to pop my laptop from it’s double-insulated cocoon; i stepped up to the table and stripped down to my t-shirt, shirt, pants and socks. There were several white haired gentlemen who were less agile in their strip-down. As I walked through the metal detector a man in the other line was instructed to remove his baby from the baby carrier and told that no liquids would be permitted. I couldn’t imagine the hassle of traveling with a newborn. I guess the individual was just hesitant enough that it resulted in having all of his family’s luggage opened and searched and the man and wife were hand patted-down in a glassed off area. Good morning LA, make sure you cooperate fully when the TSA person says “Jump!” JBB

8:05 am
Waiting for bags at Claim Area 1. We came in seven minutes early and had to wait for the jetway to be extended so that we could dissembark. Waiting and still more waiting…. Jbb

10:19 am
I got to the hotel early enough to check-in, unpack, and even have a quick breakfast. Yikes. Now I’m waiting for the bus to take a group of us down to Mecca, the Apple Store in Cupertino. Ack. And even as I was typing these word the bus pulled up Gotta go. Jbb

10:37 am
Why did I fret about getting here early? Folks are wandering back and forth, while Sly “takes roll” and the boys stand outside smoking. Okay, so getting at 10:30 would have been nerve-racking, but I definitely need to dial it back a bit as far as the fierce punctuality I was aspiring to. Ha, punctuality… not a word I’m usually or even ever associated with.

10:48 am, still waiting… JBB

P.S., Yes, I finally got to visit “The Mothership” (Apple Campus in Cupertino) and then caught Steve Jobs’ keynote and introduction of the iPhone the next morning. Click here to see my pix of my MacWorld Adventure. Some day I might even edit the video that I took during my trip. JBB