It ain't big and it ain't bootiful but the annual two-day long Computer Trade show does offer a venue where the smaller system builders and computer resellers can go trend-spotting and see much of the latest kit without flying out of the country. Team.HEXUS has been taking in this year's event - held yesterday and today at Birmingham's NEC. Bob Crabtree gives an overview.
Although none of the big international computer shows are held in the UK, we do host a few events, among them this week's CTS (Computer Trade Show). The 2006 show kicked off yesterday - in Birmingham's NEC - and rounded off at 4pm today. This isn't an exhibition that's typically used to give world debuts to new products. Instead it's a place where small high-street PC resellers and builders of PCs can get a taste of what's already been shown at major exhibitions, such as the CeBIT extravaganza held in Hannover in March, and compare a range of offerings all in one place where their distributors' reps are also gathered.
After the demise of the magazine that used to sponsor the show, this year's event - the ninth - seemed, perhaps not surprisingly, a little smaller than the 2005 exhibition. However, the opening day did look to attract a decent number of visitors, even if the aisles weren't heaving, and the show floor was busy during Thursday morning, too.
Microsoft almost certainly had the busiest stand even though it's little more than a presentation theatre. What's been bringing in the crowds, and had them forming long queues to gain entry, is a presentation showing some of the tasty bits in Microsoft's two big forthcoming software launches - Vista, the new version of Windows, and V2007 of the big-selling Office suite.
A little worryingly, the Microsoft bods doing yesterday's last presentation seemed to be inferring that mass-market availability of Vista will once again be delayed - claiming that resellers and system builder would prefer it to arrive later than January 2007! This, it was reckoned, was because they'd be saying to themselves, "At the start of January I'm on holiday; then when I return there will be a big backlog; after which I'll have to do my tax returns...".
The same may also be true for Office 2007 - the launch of which is tied to the Vista - though nothing was said about that and it's possible that Office 2007 will be launched in November when big businesses - it was claimed - are still scheduled to be able to get Vista.
Our view is that the need to recover from Xmas excesses isn't a reason that many people are going to be taken in by even though we'd admit that some owners of small firms do seem to have unbusiness-like priorities, typically including exotic holidays, flashy cars and private schools for the kids.
Although Microsoft isn't the only blue-chip company to have its own showing at CTS, it is one of the few. The only others we spotted (and we don't think that the show is big enough for us to have missed many) were Intel and its deadly rival AMD. Each is taking a very different approach - and the differences will, we think, explain their differing levels of success.
Intel's showing had all the signs of an after-thought. Either that or a massive reluctance to take the event seriously. Instead of a stand on the show floor, the company had simply driven into the hall a truck trailer that is, presumably, part of an ongoing (or forthcoming) roadshow. If not, and the trailer is intended to be used in place of a stand at other shows, then Intel has made a big mistake.
Each time we checked, it looked to us as though few people were bothering to go into the trailer. But that, in our view was entirely to be expected. The trailer didn't just feel uninviting, it felt positively off-putting - and Intel didn't have the wit or inclincation to put a barker outside inviting people in. And that's not just us wishing to push-up the dolly-bird count at the show - even a pug-ugly bloke would have been able to let passers-by know that this was part of the show that they were more than welcome to enter.
Intel's off-putting truckIn contast, AMD has a conventional stand - not massive but big enough - and, judging by the fact that there was plenty of activity every time we passed by, it will have drawn in hugely more visitors than Stalag Intel.
AMD's busy standWe'll be filing show stories over the next few days, so keep an eye on the HEXUS front pages - HEXUS.core, HEXUS.lifestyle and HEXUS.gaming
and also on our article-summary page for CTS that lists all the pieces.
HEXUS.links
CTS 2006 - All the HEXUS coverage
CTS 2006 - Home page
CTS 2006 - Gaming rant
CeBIT - All the HEXUS coverage
