A Different Kind of Show

There are computer shows and then there are computer shows. What is that supposed to mean? Well, let’s begin with what I expect at a show. I expect dealers to figuratively grab me by the lapels and say something like, “Come here and see what I have that you simply can’t do without” or “You know how long it takes to do thus and so with your present setup? Watch what this new software can do for you” or (preferably) “Here’s a setup just like yours — and here’s what happens when you add this new gizmo. Ta-~Dah!” In other words, I go to a show in anticipation that someone will want to impress me with their wares and their words. It’s up to me to keep my wallet in my pocket, or not to, as I see fit. Mind you, I don’t want to see unbridled hype at a computer show, either. But I do want fellow QL’ers to share what they’ve learned. And we came to learn!

The 3rd International QL Show at Oak Ridge, Tennessee was not that kind of show for me. Impressed by the fine newsletter/magazine put out by Bob Dyl and of its sponsorship by IQLR, my wife Bobbie and I attended the show. It was our first exposure to this event. As newcomers with new faces on the show scene, we figured to be noticed by dealers and that they would be asking all sorts of questions, so as to match us up with software and hardware — up to the limit of our credit cards, anyway. This did not happen.

There was something in the atmosphere that reminded us of a reunion in combination with an antique shop. There was a sort of “BROWSE AND WHEN YOU’RE READY, WE’LL TAKE YOUR ORDER” air to it. Perhaps others who attended went there intending to buy a certain item but I go expecting to be sold something. Can you see the difference? Bottom line: I spent only $14 at the show after driving 1,800 miles round trip. Does this make any sense at all?

As for the reunion aspect, to be sure, it was SO GOOD to be able to put a face to the names we have known for so long. I took my video camera along to share with the CATUG members back home what we had seen at the show. (They made me show the tape three times!) And, certainly, the many door prizes livened things up from time to time.

It turns out that partly due to Bob Dyl’s recent illness, the show might never have happened but for the good graces of Mel LaVerne and his lovely wife. They offered beautiful Oak Ridge as the venue. It also turned out that – to my surprise – the dealers made money. So much so that there will be even more of them at the 4th International QL Show!

The disquieting thing for me was that the emphasis seemed to be turned away from the QL and toward the QXL board for the PC and its compatibles! Indeed, there were QLs in evidence; there had to be. But I – and many like me – am not about to purchase a 386 or a 486 computer in order to buy and use a QXL board. Has the QL community made a Quantum Leap from an affordable computer to a not-so-affordable computer? Have our gurus exhausted the design limits of the QL as originally conceived? Or is it simply the desire to be compatible with the everpresent PC that is driving everyone?

The trip after all was not a waist. Because of a couple of articles by Hugh Howie and a brief introduction to it on the night before the show, we made a detour to Peru, Indiana AFTER the show – to buy a Z88 notebook computer which did empty my pockets! We have to agree with Hugh that it’s a wonderful machine. But it’s an adjunct to the QL, not a replacement. Now if I can only get it to handshake with my QL…