And so, life goes on for the Apple cogni scenti. The milling throng whiles away its days ooing and ahhing over the latest trinkets and baubles released by Jobs et al. The whole gang is at the disposal of a single personality. And, my friends, the gang's all here.

MacWorld is one of those events that's only impressive if you let yourself get swept up in the hype. IF your favorite pass-time is drooling over the latest G4, or swooning over an iMac you can't possibly afford (or perhaps you can!) then MacWorld is the place for you. Much like E3, it's all about hype. You must believe exactly what you're being fed. You must eat exactly what you believe. And don't you dare quote the wisdom of those who've come before. Apple is a company with no past, only a future. Thus, legacy hardware vanishes, old equipment is thrown away, and the rest of the world follows in suit.

I've been to six MacWorlds now, and it's getting hard to tell them apart. Aside from the initial San Francisco/New York division, there's not a whole lot to keep the shows from being confused. Certain booth placements are always changing, and Apple's always got different banners and hardware to show, but generally, things are always the same.

The places where last year there was a new pre-press software company, this year there is a pre-film production software company. Where once there was music production, now there is iPod accessories. The music production has moved down the line a few blocks. There's still the "Developer Connection" semi truck, loaded down with Apple goodies: G4's, hard drives, digital cameras, and RAM. And the developers are still lined up in 3 foot square booths around the semi, hawking the benefits of their products that will never come to fruition. Four years ago, it was Rhapsody in one of those booths. Two years ago, it was Hotline. I didn't even bother to see what was there this year. No doubt some other sort of vaporware, or underground magnate software struggling desperately for legitimacy and thus, venture capital.

The magazines have shifted again. MacAddict is on the other side of the floor from its position last year. Still the same booth, still the same red foam hats. Still the same vacuous booth babes and not a single editor or actual employee to be found. Again i submit my resume. Not sure why I bother any more.

The boys at Connectix are still throwing T-shirts to whoever can tell them the correct price of Virtual PC. Final question: what was Connectix's firt product? Answer: Virtual: RAM disk tool for the Mac Plus. Three years ago, that question was "Who played Grand Moff Tarkin?" Answer: Peter Cushing. Of course, once Episode One came out and ruined the whole series, no one really cared anymore, and the questions returned to the more mundane.