(Author’s note: These are the rambling, on-the-fly impressions of Yours Truly, designed to serve up a bit of the feel of what it’s like to be at the Macworld CreativePro Conference & Expo in New York. It’s a companion travelogue and opinion piece. If you’re looking for hard news, feel free to skip this and move on to the next MacCentral article.)
One of the highlights of this week for me has been covering the Quark-Adobe skirmishes regarding QuarkXPress 6.0 and InDesign 2.0.
I think a big draw would have been a WWF “Smackdown” event pitting Peder Engrob, the worldwide product evangelist for Adobe InDesign, against Jurgen Kurz, Quark’s vice president of product management. In fact, I think IDG should add “rasslin’ ” (not wrestling, which is a legitimate high school/college sport) to future Macworld expos. Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates? Phil Schiller vs. Steve Ballmer? I’d pay good money for those match-ups and I’ll bet others would, as well.
As always, it was a blast doing a session in the User Group Lounge. There’s nothing like talking with fellow Mac users and MUG (Mac User Group) members. Public speaking isn’t my forte, but the sessions — which I play totally off the cuff — are comfortable and fun.
Naturally, I’ve eaten at some great places. One is the Market Diner (572 11th Avenue), which offers good food at a very reasonable price. I had eggs, bacon, and toast — and I’ve never been served such a helping of bacon. The pile was big enough to give coronaries to three men.
I also had a fine breakfast of pancakes at the Skylight Diner (402 West 34th Street). Even better was the conversation there with Joseph Japes of Econ Technologies. Among other things we discussed the transportation infrastructures and of New York and Europe and the ability to get around without owning a vehicle. We agreed that the entire US needs a thorough railway system and that Americans will eventually have to ween themselves of the mindset that all families have to have multiple cars.
The most upscale dining I enjoyed all week was at the Taj on 48 West 21st St, between 5th and 6th Avenue. The roasted duck was impeckable (pun intended) and I’m indebted to native New Yorker Rafael Rivera for the meal and the interesting insider’s insights to this fascinating town.
Then there’s Virgil’s BBQ, off of Times Square. The food is delicious and the restaurant does a marvelous job of creating a real “Southern” atmosphere. Hey, any place that lets me order “sweet tea” makes me feel at home.
Finally, MacCentral readers have e-mailed me asking how I liked the Power Mac G5. Wish I could tell you. The lines have been so long at CreativePro I haven’t had a chance to get up close and personal with one.