Our daily dispatches from the ProMat material handling trade show in Chicago in March were packed with updates on new products, recaps of keynote speeches, and similar news. But there were plenty of interesting, sometimes humorous, sidelights that didn't make it into the newsletters. Here's a sampling:
- Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple Inc. who designed and built the first two Apple computers, does not have high-speed Internet access in his Los Gatos, Calif., home. Wozniak, who spoke at the show's concurrent educational conference, said that his area of Los Gatos was never connected for high-speed Internet, probably the only place in Silicon Valley that wasn't. Thus it is that one of the 20th century's great technological innovators can only avail himself of high-speed connectivity during his frequent road trips.
- The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) had a booth emblazoned with the cheeky slogan "Don't be a dimweight." Unlike its rivals FedEx Corp. and UPS Inc., which recently shifted to more expensive dimensional weight pricing for ground parcels measuring less than three cubic feet, USPS has opted—at least for now—not to adopt dim-weight pricing and is using that as a competitive differentiator.
- Every trade show has one or two exhibitors that go to unusual lengths to grab attendees' attention. In years past, that distinction usually went to the fashion shows put on by slinky models at one Chinese forklift company's booth. This year, the talk of the show floor was Irish lift-truck maker Combilift's "dancing forklifts." Every 30 minutes, Irish music would begin to play, and operators would swing two kelly green omnidirectional trucks in circles, deftly weaving around each other in a display of agility, smooth cornering, and tight turns. Although you won't get the full effect—the almost painful decibel level has been toned down for the video—you can see the performance for yourself on YouTube.
