I went to ComputerFest with my Dad today. Man, has that thing gone down hill over the last few years. Time was, when all of Hara Arena would have been packed wall to wall full of vendors plying their wares and geeks buying those wares. Since the Internet has become such a popular tool to order computer hardware and other stuff, less and less people go to conventions such as this to buy stuff. As it was, big green dividers were placed everywhere, cordoning off huge chunks of empty space, thus making it seem like the place was hopping.

One of the more interesting things I saw was a guy giving a demonstration on a little video camera to an enraptured crowed. He was very convincing, friendly polite, and dressed in a long white lab coat, like the ones I wear at work, to appear “knowledgeable.” He spouted terms like “removable hard drive” instead of memory card and said his little camera could take pictures, act as a voice recorder, and play mp3s. It really wasn’t that bad of a camera at two-hundred dollars. If I didn’t work in a photo lab and deal with this shit every day, I might have been willing to plunk down the money for one.

The other really cool thing — which I wish I’d known about earlier — was that one big room was devoted solely to LAN gaming. I peeked into the room and I saw an assload of people sitting at computers playing things like City of Heroes, Warcraft 3, some form of Unreal Tournament, and even the classic Starcraft. I talked to one of the dudes and he said the gaming had been going on and would continue through the night for 48 hours. I neglected to ask how much doing so costs, but I’d be willing to pay quite a bit to get in on some of that. I think next spring, when the next convention occurs, if they have the LAN gaming again, I’m gonna see if Nate wants to go with me and we can play Starcraft — or Warcraft 3, since I suspect I’ll really be into that game by spring — for hours on end. It certainly sounds like it’d be a blast.

JAB