DEMOmobile: Wireless Gets (Almost) Useful

from the very,-very-close dept

Mon, Sep 13th 2004 6:40pm — Mike Masnick

As mentioned, last week we went to DEMOmobile. While I've been known to trash most conferences, I have to say that DEMOmobile is a clear exception. It's one of only a few conferences I've attended where you get just as much out of the conference itself as the time in-between sessions when you get to talk to everyone else. The format (6 minute presentations from companies launching new products) is great, and the DEMOmobile team clearly has learned how to put on a professional, high production value conference. While the conference got off to a slow start, the overall picture was both encouraging and discouraging. I've written up more detailed thoughts at TheFeature, where I explain how DEMOmobile showed a number of companies working hard to make wireless technologies useful (finally!). For too long, we've been simply hearing about just how wonderful the applications will be for this or that new wireless technology. DEMOmobile actually focused on the applications of those wireless technologies. On the downside, however, the continued struggles the industry has with itself were evident. The walled garden mentality of much of the industry (protect the business model rather than opening up and letting innovation occur) was on display more than a few times, while some applications were simply too reliant on others to ever become successful or too hopeful that users would change their behavior at the first sign of a cool application. So, while I think that many of the technologies launched at DEMOmobile 2004 will eventually make their way out to the mainstream, it may not be for a while... and it may not be from the companies that launched them last week.

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phoenix, 14 Sep 2004 @ 4:42am

grammar
Sorry to be nitpicking, Mike - your language is usually way above average - but "one of the only conferences" gives me cramps. Please use "one of the few". Thanks.
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Mike (profile), 14 Sep 2004 @ 9:09am

Re: grammar
Thanks... fixed.
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Gary Potter, 14 Sep 2004 @ 9:33am

Demo
They also produce Demo. http://www.demo.com/demo
It's done every February and it's also an excellent conference.
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Evan McCraw, 17 Sep 2004 @ 10:28am

Re: Demo
Doesn't Demo seem overdone and oldhat? They charge $15,000 for those 6 minute slots, which for 40 of them is $600,000, and they sell sponsorships (maybe $300,000) and charge to attend (maybe $350,000). So they make $1.2 million, and they get the traditional press in their to write it all up glowingly, while feeding their egos. And the sponsors pay to sit on panels.
Who pays $15k to demo but a company making a product that isn't that good.
Isn't it blogs like Techdirt that really matter when people choose products they will actually pay real money for, as well as users with little blogs and websites, and word of mouth from friends? If companies really wanted to be effective with social software and devices, they would go straight to the users to make it happen. But in that model, they actually have to have good products and get real -- no more messaging and marketing crap.
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Evan McCraw, 17 Sep 2004 @ 10:30am

No Subject Given
Doesn't Demo seem overdone and oldhat? They charge $15,000 for those 6 minute slots, which for 40 of them is $600,000, and they sell sponsorships (maybe $300,000) and charge to attend (maybe $350,000). So they make $1.2 million, and they get the traditional press in their to write it all up glowingly, while feeding their egos. And the sponsors pay to sit on panels.

Who pays $15k to demo but a company making a product that isn't that good.

Isn't it blogs like Techdirt that really matter when people choose products they will actually pay real money for, as well as users with little blogs and websites, and word of mouth from friends? If companies really wanted to be effective with social software and devices, they would go straight to the users to make it happen. But in that model, they actually have to have good products and get real -- no more messaging and marketing crap.
[ link to this | view in thread ]