January 10, 2002

• I’m really really tired right now.
  
  I went to Macworld, and I find myself wondering why I thought it was a good idea to go in the first place. Initially, I had convinced myself that I’d schmooze a bit, but as anyone who’s ever met me knows: I Suck At Schmoozing.
  
  For those of you who might not know, Macworld is a big huge event that happens twice a year, once in San Fransisco, and once in New York or Boston. It’s a whole trade show devoted to Macintosh.
  
  It fills two giant meeting halls, both the size of a football field, plus a huge number of meeting rooms for classes and lectures and stuff.
  
  This was my third one. The first time I went because I thought I was going to drum up some work. The second time was an excuse to go and visit my friends in the bay area. This time it was a precipitory date for the end of my stay in Texas.
  
  The big news at this Macworld was Apple’s release of the new iMac, which is pretty nifty if you like shaving mirrors. Seriously, though, it’s pretty cool, although it reminds me of props from the ‘Space 1999′ TV show. I’ve always maintained that we live in the Science Fiction Age, and that kitsch has its place, but these two notions should never meet and manifest in the world as consumer electronics.
  
  The exhibit halls are crammed with a zillion companies trying to get your attention. They have elaborate booths, pounding music, some guy giving a demo of the software over a PA, BRIGHT RED CARPETING, a general sense that if you stop meandering about you’ll die, like a shark that stops moving through the water. In short: Overstimulation. I didn’t see anything interesting except the v.4 of REALbasic, and I already knew about that.
  
  So I wandered over to the Metreon, AKA ‘The House That Sony Built.’ It’s a confusing shopping mall built by Sony. The architecture is interesting, but the layout is designed to confuse. It’s very difficult to find your way out, or to even find a way to get from one floor to the next. It’s designed to keep you confused so you’ll buy things. Marketing architecture.
  
  I ate some noodles at a place there. Oh, and there’s one more thing to know about the Metreon: There is always, and I mean ALWAYS some techno music playing. It never stops. I payed attention all through my meal, a full 45 minutes at least. Somewhere, there’s an unthinking, unceasing machine that makes the music you hear in the Metreon. Like someone left the drum machine playing on infinite loop. It’s exasperating, but I bet very few people actually notice.
  
  Metreon: For Masochists.

  • 2:55 am
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