Comdex Fall 2003: Day 1

Your wish is my command.

Comdex? Comdex? What is Comdex? Comdex organizers say, "Comdex is getting back to its roots." After the event's organizers filed for bankruptcy last year in a U.S. court, Comdex resurrected this year, according to the official statement, is to focus on the small to medium-sized enterprise customers' needs, to "better understand and leverage all areas of the global channel to target vertical markets..." So what does this corporate-speak mean?

Putting the organizers' hype and desperation to save the struggling high-tech trade show that once attracted more than 200,000 during the dot.com boom years into context, as it will likely not see 30,000 visitors this year, is there something here for the IT administrator, reseller or the geek who just wants to hold and play with the latest gadgets and see the coolest yet-to-be launched technologies?

The short answer is that THG managed to find an Opteron-based motherboard for gaming, chipsets that will enable Wi-Fi, WLAN access with a cell phone, and a lively debate intended to convey to gamers, small and large network administers and resellers alike just how close they are from security mayhem. We made these findings despite Comdex attendance levels that were lower than last year, which helped drive the show's organizers into a Chapter 11 court.

Truth be told, most of what we saw and covered today did not occur at the convention site, but at surrounding hotels. While that may be bad news for Comdex's bottom line, so what?