Okay, John, no spin, no justification, nothing but the plain and simple: I was wrong.

Oh, is it time for this phase. Very well then, you’re like the annoying little kid yelling at people from his mommy’s bedroom window, yet never willing to fully accept responsibility for his words or actions, and always making sure he’s got an open door back into the house if he ventures outside. Maybe if you stop trying to justify your mistake with feces like:

” I only used previous data to surmise what may be as many others in the past have done such as well respected reporters from the media at large.

I guess a few commenters here will like to make this an object lesson for discrediting a “hunch” and I hope before they do, they search real hard and think if they have ever been wrong themselves.”

it would be possible to take your admittance of said mistake easier. But no, you still try to justify your manipulation of data, even though it’s obvious that no one bought it.

I admit I was wrong, but no, not good enough for you. You have to even dissect that. How gracious of you. Like that bully, I see very little in your character that appeals to me and I’m sure may readers would agree. In fact, I have been told that privately by many since your little tirade has begun.

“You’re a big meanie poopy-head and, and, LOTS OF PEOPLE THINK SO!”

Man, what are you, twelve? You tried to mitigate your mistake by clinging to the stupid manipulation of data you got *busted* on in this very article, and then, when that didn’t work, you now tell me that lots of people don’t like me? Are you lucid?

Again, you spin as you accuse me of saying something I never did. Yes, I was *disappointed* by Macworld. I never said it sucked. compared to years before, it didn’t have the same vibe and excitement. Sure, the iPhone excited many, but the fire wasn’t as strong as previous years where you could actually touch and play with the various exciting announcements. Maybe you’re on Apple’s payroll and thus you are committed to paint every picture of Apple a golden one (no pun attended.)

Why, that would be an astoundingly stupid thing to say since I :

a) Never said what I thought about the keynote. This would be because I wasn’t AT the keynote, so therefore it would be poor form for me to talk about it.

b) Don’t work, nor have i ever worked for Apple.

c) The KEYNOTE is not the CONFERENCE.

That last part is important. Say it until you understand: “The keynote is not the conference. The keynote is not the conference.”

There has been more than one blah keynote in front of a successful conference, both at Macworld and other shows. What, the keynote sucked for you, so the entire show sucks? Had you been more clear that it sucked for YOU, then less problem. But your comments on the crowd size, (totally incorrect), and your (again), manipulation of other people’s words to say what you wanted them to say, rather than what they did say shows your true colors Sven. I can indeed be quite heartless, but you’re absolutely untrustworthy, based on the way you “report” data and other people’s words.

On the whole, I’d rather be a jerk than a weasel.

Why one needs to spend more the majority of the day, or the entire week, at a trade show to get an overall feeling for it, I don’t know. Last I remember, nothing else big happened the rest of the week, but I’m sure that still makes me the idiot in your book for not being there. I guess all the polls we see that use SAMPLE data can be discounted because they didn’t stay and ask everyone, huh?

No, you’re an idiot for seeing less than 10% of the conference and trying to extrapolate that to cover the entire show. Show floor metadata is incapable of applying to the conference sessions. If a poll ONLY sampled the show floor, and then tried to apply those results to the conference, they’d be every bit as silly as you are for doing that. Samples have to SAMPLE across the ENTIRE data range, otherwise the results aren’t applicable.

Oh, and are you sure you didn’t learn your strawman tactics from Scoble? You’re about as good at it as he is.

I’ve read your site in the past John and you seem like a really bright guy. Why you find purpose to have to drag me through the mud after being the gentleman I said would be in admitting my wrong, I don’t know. Maybe not all bright people have the ability to unlock compassion from their locked heart.

Oh lord, the attempt at being noble. Is there any form of manipulation more doomed to failure? Sven, you didn’t admit your mistake. You ALMOST did, but then tried to justify it, and your misuse of other people’s words and data to make it sound like it really wasn’t your fault.

It’s the “near” apology, and it’s a sign that you don’t really think you made a mistake, but are being “big” about it. Bah. A true gentleman would admit to being wrong and not attempt to justify it.

Well, a true man would.

I admit I was wrong, but no, not good enough for you. You have to even dissect that. How gracious of you. Like that bully, I see very little in your character that appeals to me and I’m sure may readers would agree. In fact, I have been told that privately by many since your little tirade has begun.

Again, you spin as you accuse me of saying something I never did. Yes, I was *disappointed* by Macworld. I never said it sucked. compared to years before, it didn’t have the same vibe and excitement. Sure, the iPhone excited many, but the fire wasn’t as strong as previous years where you could actually touch and play with the various exciting announcements. Maybe you’re on Apple’s payroll and thus you are committed to paint every picture of Apple a golden one (no pun attended.)

Why one needs to spend more the majority of the day, or the entire week, at a trade show to get an overall feeling for it, I don’t know. Last I remember, nothing else big happened the rest of the week, but I’m sure that still makes me the idiot in your book for not being there. I guess all the polls we see that use SAMPLE data can be discounted because they didn’t stay and ask everyone, huh?

Ya, I say Adobe’s booth and even laughed that Quark was still trying after snubbing OS X with it’s very late Express update (which gave Adobe the edge on them.) Maybe you were there when those booths were giving away blinking pens or something because while full, they weren’t packed to the point it was difficult to maneuver around.

I’ve read your site in the past John and you seem like a really bright guy. Why you find purpose to have to drag me through the mud after being the gentleman I said would be in admitting my wrong, I don’t know. Maybe not all bright people have the ability to unlock compassion from their locked heart.

Let’s look at the basis for my hypothesis shall we?

My hypothesis is that you decided to do a hatchet job on the 2007 Macworld Expo over a month before it started.

My evidence:

First, this post. Let’s see. Your entire statement was based on deliberately ignoring data that showed how CES had little to do with a reduction in attendance at the 2002 Macworld Expo, since CES lost a greater percentage of its attendance last year than Macworld Expo did, and people in the expo industry, *including people from CES* said that the 9/11 attacks which had happened just three or so months earlier were the cause of this.

Yet you ignored those statements, you ignored the CES attendance drop, took the Macworld Expo attendance drop completely out of context and decided that the reason for it was CES, in spite of rather compelling and obvious evidence to the contrary. The fact that CES and Macworld have different attendee profiles didn’t make it into your “analysis” either.

So right there, it’s obvious that you weren’t letting the evidence show what it showed, and basing your conclusions on that. Instead, you discarded all evidence that didn’t support your theory, including the article you linked to, and used one number out of context to say, and I quote:

“This isn’t the first time CES overlapped a Macworld date. In 2002, CES found itself smack dab in the middle of Macworld week as well. The result? Macworld attendance fell by 5.5 percent. ”

Nothing you cited says that at all. Obviously, you weren’t interested in anything but your conclusion: CES will hurt Macworld.

Second bit of evidence:

Your “hot or not” CES vs. Macworld article, http://svenontech.com/2007/01/07/hot-or-not-ces-or-macworld/, where you’re still beating this drum. Again, your words:

“Don’t worry about if CES steals attendance from Macworld this year due to both happening on the same week or not.”

That’s not the statement of someone approaching Macworld with a neutral attitude. That’s you still trying to drive home the baseless hypothesis that CES will hurt Macworld.

Now let’s go to your articles from Macworld. “Macworld Highlights” was a beaut. The entire thing is a paen to bad counting skills:

“I’ve also noticed the crowds to be much less than last year. It’ll be interesting to see the figures on that.”

Sven on Math is evidently worse than Sven on Tech. However, it’s pretty clear that you ignored everything else going on at the show, including the conference program because Apple didn’t give you enough new toys. In fact, it appears that you ignored everything that wasn’t from Apple or about iPods. Hmm…no, no preconceived notions there. Obviously everyone else only goes to Macworld for Apple and iPods. No conference programs, no other products.

It’s funny comparing your attempts to make the show sound half empty with the lines and crowds I saw around the Adobe and Microsoft booths, around the non-iPhone Apple gear, hell, even Quark had a crowd. But maybe you were in the bathroom for most of the show, there was a rather vicious flu going around. Oh wait, looking at the date, that was posted on Tuesday at 3pm. Wow. You were there for five hours, and had already decided the show sucks.

I am in AWE of your mad evidence-gathering and analysis skills.

Now on to my last bit of evidence:

“The Most Disappointing Macworld In a Long Time”

Really. Because from what anyone can tell, you were only on the show floor, and not even there for terribly long. But let’s see:

“What happened? We finally got the iPhone and the previously announced iTV, now Apple TV, but that was it. No new iWorks. No new iLife. No new iMacs. No new Mac minis. No new MacBooks with updated Airport to match the speed of the quietly announced Airport Extreme with 802.11n Draft 1.0 support. Nope, nothing but the iPhone which no one could touch or buy until about the end of the year. I mean, it was so out of place walking to the massive Apple area and see, nothing. Some Apple TV demos and two iPhones behind a guarded case. What a let down.”

So *Apple* didn’t give you the toys you wanted, Macworld sucks. Misplaced expectations much? Of course, you’re making yourself out to be some kind of braveheart for saying this:

“I’m not the only one brave enough to make public statement with the disappointment of Apple’s showcase expo. Macworld’s Rob Griffiths agrees with me and has already been blasted with hate mail for his honesty.”

Except, Rob didn’t blast the SHOW in the article you quoted, he said he was disappointed in the KEYNOTE. Don’t take my word, re-read the article yourself. http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/editors/2007/01/keynotereax/index.php

Here’s the pertinent quote, since you aren’t so good at the whole “comprehension” thing:

“Beyond that, though, I was terribly disappointed by this year’s keynote. We had a two-hour presentation that basically covered two devices (and of those, the Apple TV had maybe 15 minutes of attention).”

*Keynote* Sven, not show. Of course, had you noted when Rob wrote the article, (4pm on the day of the keynote), then the fact that he was only talking about one part of the show may have been more obvious. Not that you’d care, we’ve already seen that you happily ignore evidence that doesn’t match your conclusion. Now, why would you say that if you’d had an open mind going into the show? It would make no sense. However, if you had already decided to slam the show, then your selective analysis makes sense.

The second article you used to support you, http://www.disgruntled-dutch.com/2007/rants/steves-macworld-07-keynote/ was also ONLY talking about the keynote.

you’re new at this “analysis” thing, aren’t you. Unless of course, you had you conclusion in place before hand, and simply wanted to get some quick quotes to “support” it, and figured that no one would call you out on it. Sucks to be you.

Another quote from your “Most disappointing…” tripe:

“I left for BART that bitter cold day in San Francisco last Tuesday thinking, “What was that? It started off with the most incredible announcement I’ve ever witnessed and then like a big thud, the rest of the show, well, just sucked. What happened?””

You are at the show for ONE DAY, looked at perhaps 20% of the show, and yet, were able to completely predict the show from that. No preconceived notions there, not even the POSSIBILITY. Right.

Dude, you went in there determined to be disappointed, and you succeeded. That’s not “spin” by a long shot. That’s just reading what you wrote.

Next time, try:

a) some real reading comprehension
b) actually going to more of macworld than what you can cover in a couple hours
c) not deciding it’s going to suck beforehand

It wasn’t a hunch, hunches have at least SOME real-world basis. You wanted to be the first on the “MACWORLD IS GOING DOWNHILL” bandwagon, and made the data fit your conclusion. The “reports” you had from the show bear out that you had decided well before the show that it was going to suck, and you made sure to report it that way.

I guess a few commenters here will like to make this an object lesson for discrediting a “hunch” and I hope before they do, they search real hard and think if they have ever been wrong themselves.

still waiting…

Well we are waiting…