Having just spent three whole days at the Moscone Center in San Francisco attending the yearly MacWorld convention, I think it is safe to say I have absorbed enough Mac-vibes to never have to go into another Mac Store again.

Every year Steve Jobs wows the world with another new Mac accessory to add to our collection. First it was the iPods, then the MacBooks, the iPhone, and the touch phone. I’m waiting for the iHouse to be introduced by the time I’m able to actually able to afford one. But joking aside, the Apple industry is the middle ground that America has built a following of consumers, young and old and could possibly live on in the pocket books of future generations. The 1st generation iPod was my first major purchase, and I imagine I’m not the only one.

Getting the inside view into the world of Apple followers was interesting but borderline disturbing. Men and women of all walks of life crowded the main showroom of the convention; I think I even saw a nun. Some of them weren’t even making their rounds to all the venders. They were mostly curled up somewhere taking advantage of the free Wifi.

By day one, I was excited. Day two, I was intrigued. By day three – I started to wonder why anyone would want to host a seven-day conference like this. The super thin Mac Air was the big new edition to the Apple family. I like that its super light – but when I look at what it has I find myself wanting to call Steve Job’s and demand him to explain the absence of a CD/DVD player.

The MacWorld conference reminded me of another conference I went to not long ago, which was directed mostly at how to sell products to young people. In the case of the MacWorld, the infatuation with the Apple products has turned into a clear case of consumer obsession. I’m very guilty of being seduced by every Apple product known to man, but the seven-day drool session is a bit much – even for me. This conference is particular was wetting the appetites of any and all tech savvy consumers in the building. It made me realize that for some people the Apple product isn’t just a computer company, but practically a way of life.
—Eming Piansay