This is MacWorld week in San Francisco. I consider it to be the only remaining, great computer expo on the planet.

MacWorld today rivals some of the fun and thrill of the early days, back when San Francisco was host to the West Coast Computer Fair. It was at the Fair that Jobs and Woziniak introduced the original Apple computer back in the 1970s.

I attended one of the last West Coast Compuer Fairs, probably in 1990 or so. I met quite a few enthusiasts, several programmers I had deep respect for, and one of my personal heros, Jerry Pournelle. But even then the general interest for computers was fading; well before the dawn of the Internet, the computer was rapidly becoming an office commodity about as interesting as a typewriter.

I’m glad to see the enthusiasm and support for Apple at MacWorld. But MacWorld is more than just a computer show. Steve Jobs, in his much-anticipated “One More Thing” event, introduced a new way to rent movies, new features for the iPhone, plus the new ultra-thin MacBook Air. Computers are now merely a spoke on the wheel of consumer electroncis. Apple knows that. Good for them!

Relevant MacWorld Links Dept. Here we go: Information Week. MacBook Air. General MacWorld chaos and delight from C|Net.

More Keybords Dept. Last week I wrote about the 10 Worst Keyboards article. Now here comes the 10 Strangest Computer Keyboards article. This includes some real oddballs as well as the keyboard that everyone is lusting for: the Optimus Maximus.