Comdex a whirl of computer wizardry

Monday, Nov. 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

A scientist will show off 3-D technology, a manufacturer will display electric computer sockets for airlines, a woman will unveil screeching heat monitors for PCs and an entrepreneur will showcase software that helps a California rancher track cattle.

And then there's an $80 package that will teach you how to play the piano, multimedia systems that will make you feel as if you're climbing the Alps from your living room, and a new system to answer your phone through your desktop computer.

That and plenty more go on display today as the giant Comdex computer trade show -- the largest trade show in the world -- opens at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas Hilton and Sands Expo Center.

The 18th annual show is expected to draw more than 210,000 analysts, consultants and computer business executives before it ends Friday. Filling 2.8 million square feet will be 2,100 exhibitors from across the nation and 43 other countries.

A distant trade show runner-up is the Winter Consumer Electronics Show, a January event that draws about 80,000 to Las Vegas. The periodic World of Concrete show lures more than 100,000 to Las Vegas as well.

While thousands of convention delegates will make new contacts or renew friendships at Comdex Fall '96, many Las Vegans grouse about the arrival of the legions of computer professionals.

In addition to clogging streets in the resort corridor, Comdex conventioneers are expected to tie up cellular airwaves. Local officials said there may be call delays because of thousands of Comdex participants using wireless phones.

Traffic engineers recommend that residents keep away from Paradise Road, Swenson Avenue, Desert Inn Road, Las Vegas Boulevard South and other streets in the vicinity of the convention areas to avoid the inevitable gridlock accompanying the flood of pedestrians. Comdex traffic is usually worst between 5 and 7 p.m.

The gathering that began with just 157 exhibitors and a draw of 4,000 people in 1979 today is hugely popular in the $265 billion computer industry. Yet hardly a techie knows that Comdex is actually an abbreviation for Computer Distribution Exposition.

Whatever it's called, companies large and small view the show that fills every hotel room in Las Vegas as the best way to display their products to a large national and international audience.

"For us, Comdex is a very important show that we wouldn't miss," said Michael Warman, sales and marketing manager for MTC America Inc., a Purchase, N.Y., company unveiling an $80 CD-ROM duplicator for businesses.

The company has attended Comdex since 1993, and Warman is convinced the show has sparked sales of individual products, as well as adding momentum to the company's growth.

"Comdex isn't just a show to sell individual items," Warman said. "Attending Comdex is showing the world that you're out there and ready to do business."