Having been to many PC Shows, IT Shows and etc, one thing never fails. That is the crowd. Ever since I started visiting PC Shows or IT events, it is always crowded. The scene now has changed a little. I see a good mix of young and old people joining the queue. Before, it used to be geeks only affair. Now, it becomes a national shopping spree. This is the damage I have done (luckily many of those are for friends) in this PC Show 2009.
Many years ago, PC Show used to be a magnet for Photographers who wanted to take pictures of event models or product models. Nowadays, I see a reduction of such phenomena, probably due to the downturn.
I do see that some product models have eventually stepped into the counters to sell the products with the good looks and knowledge of the latest products. This is a good sign. This dispels the myth that they are ignorant of their own products.
In this PC Show, I saw Lenovo drawing the most eye candy. Maybe there are more. But I did not explore.
Anyway, the stars of PC Show are always the product. What are the usual stuffs? Memory cards! The size (capacity) is getting bigger and the price is dropping faster. Consumers rejoice.
What are the things that have been grabbing more attention? It has to be those selling handphones with tons of function (from listening to MP3, watching TV, playing MP4 and many other formats). Surprisingly, I can see so many of them are touting iPhone lookalike (with the Apple Logo). And people are snapping them up, not realizing that they are nothing near iPhone quality in all areas.
There are also other people selling other lookalikes of famous brands.
However, there are still good company that provides good product. One good example is Foresight Technologies who is selling the iNO Mobile CP09 targeted at elderly. Kudos to them.
Now, it seems that competition is tougher and stronger. Look at how Courts managed to bring an Arena into the hall.
What are HOT products now? I think one of them has to be the GPS Guidance Unit for cars. There are many makers and many stalls selling same products. One of them that catches my eyes is from EastGear. It is the Holux 5-inch with the latest Mapking Virtual maps. I have seen young people, old people crowding the stores asking about them.
However, I guess with such a big scale event, stealing is still a problem for some stalls.
What has improved?
- The width of the walk path is wider now.
- There is a big recess area at the entrance, which is good as there are many people crowding around there.
- The security and usherers seems to know their job well.
- The escalator planning is good.
- The no frill lucky draw is a blessing. No need to crowd around to fill in forms
What needs to improve?
- The carpark is still a BIG problem. However, I cannot blame them too much as some motorist just illegal park and cause so much jam within the carpark itself.
- The smaller stores may need bigger walkway as they attracted the most crowd. Some stores are so overwhelming that walking pass them wants to make you give up.
So, what is your take on this year PC Show 2009??
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