[ Thanks to Kevin
Reichard for this link. ]
“PC Expo was where we got the hint that it was beginning, and PC
Expo may be the place where we’re now receiving the hint that it’s
ending. The vast computer and software show was marked in 1992 by
campaign-style buttons that identified the wearer as someone who
demanded Windows preloaded on his or her next machine (as opposed
to Next machine, which was also on display then). It was the
beginning of the preload steamroller that came to guarantee that if
you owned a computer, you owned Windows, like it or not. This year
there aren’t any buttons. Microsoft has its customary big display,
but much of what seems to be the Microsoft area is instead made up
of companies that do business with Microsoft, sticking tight like
remoras on a shark. (A marine biologist friend tells me that
partially digested remoras are often found in the stomachs of
sharks.)”
“And fealty to Microsoft is the exception at PC Expo this
year. Vendors are either ready to provide details about their
products’ compatability with Linux or very defensive about
incompatability. Some are actually apologetic about Windows
preloads. Linux Mall has a big display of things for sale, and the
cash register kachings regularly. Red Hat has a nice display, also
on the main floor. IBM is demonstrating its ViaVoice for
Linux…”
“But as any serious, long-term PC Expo junkie knows, the show is
especially interesting for its freebies, buzzwords, and goofy
stuff, with perhaps a small bittersweet turn–the things you hoped
to see introduced that weren’t. So I shall now open my bulging
canvas briefcase, provided by IBM at the OS/2 Warp 3 rollout years
ago and used only at PC Expo, and make three piles.”