[11-March 2010]-- One might think that my interest in attending an "IT show" might be pretty limited these days, however this somehow captured my interest and gave me something to do, so I went down to take a look. The IT show ran four days, held at the Sun Tec convention center downtown (A large 5-storey convention center in the heart of downtown Singapore). A better name for it would be TT show-- for Techno-Toy, as the show was more consumer electronic gadgets and devices than what I would consider IT (information technology). Products included flat panel TVs, digital cameras, cell phones, and PCs-- nearly all items with a home, personal, or small business consideration. The show was primarily a place to sell current products, and not to necessarily showcase products for an upcoming release, as was typical back in the days of Comdex show in Las Vegas. At Comdex, the attendees were mostly business folks (e.g. marketers and engineers), whereas this was targeted for consumers.
What was most amazing was the attendance-- it was difficult to move about the show booths with the pack of people. In addition each booth vender had an army of touters, identified by their uniform T-shirts, in front with brochures and pamplets that would get pushed into your hands. In some cases it was difficult to reach a booth because of the picket of touts in front of it.
I saw many cartons of products leaving the pavillion with their happy purchasers-- printers, computers, cell phones, and one fellow with a carton containing a 42" LCD TV, about to try to get on the MRT. Apparently the show provided significant discounts from U.P (Usual Price) that drew the attendees. THe pavillion was also a cacaphony of hawkers on PA systems, music, etc as the larger booths had product demos, contests, and give-aways ("gifts" that could be "redeemed" at the redemption desk) to attract attention.
HP had a large booth at the event, displaying laser printers (yay!), ink printers, and PCs. Facinating to me is that HP appears to be using the old logo, without the "INVENT" thing that CEO Carly Fiorina added to the logo during her reign in early 2000.
Would Carly approve of this HP logo?
Just around the corner were the booths for two or three "imposter" companies selling ink and toner cartridge refill kits.
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