Macworld Expo 2010, day 1

Well, it’s Macworld Expo. The showroom floor is a little smaller this year, only taking up the Moscone North Hall when it used to be in South Hall as well. There was no Jobs keynote, so there was none of the mounting buzz and 3-am-gotta-get-a-good-spot-in-line craziness that you always knew was crazy, but you always just accepted because it was Apple.

But it’s a full Macworld Expo. The floor is literally packed, and there were plenty of times where I found it tough to get around a booth swarming with people. Developers who shed blood, sweat, and tears over their apps are masking fatigue with a genuine smile at the opportunity to talk and shake hands directly with their users. I dig it.

I don’t have official attendee numbers, but I bet vendors who wussed out of Macworld Expo 2010 prematurely are regretting it. Victor Agreda at TUAW made a great point when I saw him today: Apple’s faithful kept the company alive through some of its darkest years. Now Apple is at the top of its game, on the tip of every tech site’s tongue, selling all sorts of products like mad, and a major player (and threat) in a number of industries, some of which didn’t even exist a decade ago.

Apple Stores are all over the place now, and you can see their stuff anytime you want; it doesn’t need a gargantuan booth in the center of the Macworld Expo anymore. We all know why we’re here. This is the perfect time for Macworld Expo to flourish and the Mac community to thrive on its own. Long live Macworld Expo San Francisco.