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ESCAPE TO SF

by Tom Cantrell

Start ý ýNet Bet ý Memorola ý Hills Are Always Greener ý SHake Up ý Mitsu Who? ý Soft Cell ý Little Lisýner ý Sources and PDF

As soon as I got back from LA and Robotica, it was time to head north to San Francisco, the site of this yearýs West Coast Embedded System Conference.

From humble table-top hotel show of yore, ESC West has grown with the embedded market to become, as old-time TV impresario Ed Sullivan would say, "a really big show." So big, it finally outgrew its home in San Jose and had to make the move to "The City."

"The City," as in the city where panhandlers like suffering SOMA (south-of-Market-Street) start-ups courting a VC politely say, "Hey, while youýve got your wallet out, could you make it $5 or $10?" In fact, that panhandler could be a recently downsized entrepreneur. Easy dot.com, easy dot.go.

On the other hand, SF offers plenty of fine sights to see and restaurants to sample. Amazingly, the Circuit Cellar crew ended up in a decent hotel for only $139 a night. Itýs true parking was extra, an astounding $35 a day, but it was actually a bargain compared to the absurdly high prices of the overheated south in Silicon Valley proper.

But best of all, SFýs Moscone Convention Center is much more spacious than the Civic Center in San Jose. If attendance appeared to be down, it was not surprising considering the economy, the change in venue, and compressed schedule from the last West Coast show. I personally welcomed the fact that there was room to breathe in the aisles. No more having your booth in a tent in the parking lot either.

Enough of the travel log. No matter where the show is held or the state of the economy, as long as silicon keeps marching on, embedded is where the action is. Check it out.

NEXT

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