Cable Industry Has Room to Grow With Internet Show Participation

nternet World, Comdex, and Networld/InterOP are three of the largest computer industry trade shows, each taking place two or three times per year. Internet World has a spring show in Los Angeles, a new summer show in Chicago, and a fall show in New York. Typically, the spring and fall shows are the largest of the three, each drawing approximately 60,000 attendees and 600 exhibiting vendors.

Internet World's displays and conferences are loosely connected by the Internet's common thread. Attendees range from CEOs and IT professionals to Web designers and network technicians. The exhibitors also run the gamut from IBM and Microsoft to little known publications and accessory vendors. Over 200 conference sessions are held in conjunction with the exhibits on a variety of topics, including security, commerce, IT strategies, and Web design.

From recent business deals between the computer and cable television industries, it would seem that cable's involvement at computer industry trade shows would have increased. This is not yet the case as the presence of the cable industry at Spring Internet World 98 was almost non-existent. The only exhibitor with any direct ties to the cable industry was MediaOne, the local provider in the Los Angeles area, and the only vendor to utilize cable modems (Bay Networks' LANcity) at the show.

Technologies involved in IP telephony services or targeted advertising solutions received a great deal of attention at this year's show. The IP telephony products ranged from devices that sit between your phone and wall jack to corporate gateway solutions.