Next Week: It's Apple vs. The Entire Rest of the Industry

CES and Macworld go head to head next week.

The combined might of Microsoft, HP, Samsung, Sony, Intel, AMD, Motorola, LG, Panasonic, yada yada will spread across multiple expo halls and hotels ballrooms in Las Vegas vying for press attention against one lone company in Moscone Center in San Francisco. CES is celebrating its fortieth anniversary, Apple its thirtieth.

Apple doesn't have a chance.

Except this: in Las Vegas, it's actually 2700 vendors competing for attention against each other across acres of exhibit space, endless walking, dueling keynotes, press conferences and meetings. (Ed Bott had nearly 600 invitations to meet with vendors and room on his schedule for 30.) Whereas in San Francisco, it's the Steve Show all the way.

In Las Vegas, it's practically everything on earth with a plug or a battery. In San Francisco, it's a single coherent message crafted by one of the most focused communicators on the planet.

The Reality Distortion Field vs. A Cloud of Dust in the Desert. It's really no contest.

PS: unfortunately, business takes me to New York. I'll be attending neither. (Online, I'll be attending both.)


(Tags: Apple, CES, Macworld, Steve Jobs)