Embedded Technology Conference

About As I Had Expected…

And was warned about. Since it was free and about a mile or so from where I live, I decided to go look around, see if I could find anything that had any kind of future application to publishing.

Nothing direct, and I walked the entire show. They had six stages with speakers on five of them, all giving presentations of a product. I listened to a few, but like any business, a lot of hype, which means the speakers were good. (Yeah, I know, writers don’t like hype, which is why they don’t sell more books.)

Frighteningly, I understood a lot of what I was seeing. And I thought a lot of it was very cool, but the focus also seemed to be on more here and now, getting those who needed a certain technology to buy it. Very, very little that I spotted about the future.

So it was free and interesting and worth the few hours to take a look under the hood of a lot of different things.

However, personally, the hardest part of the entire thing wasn’t the Embedded Technology Conference, which was held in a massive meeting hall on the second floor, but the conference going on in the massive meeting hall right under it. My old world and thankfully I had missed hearing it was back. The Antique Jewelry and Watches Show. Remember, in Lincoln City, at one point I owned three collectable stores (and a bookstore.) All three collectable stories had watches and jewelry. That show would have cost me the rest of my day. And maybe more than one day.

I was so proud. I walked past it on the way up to the other show and past it on the way down. And I still have five full Staples file boxes full of antique watches in my storage unit. Almost all too heavy to lift. That was the hard part of going to the tech show, walking past the antique show. I gave that world up when Kris got sick and I honestly have no desire (besides marbles) to go back. But it is sure in my blood.