Another month, another European trade show.  This time it’s musikmesse, the world’s largest musical instrument and accessory trade event.  Held in Frankfurt every April, musikmesse covers everything from musical instruments to DJ equipment to audio software (which is why I was there).
Think of the largest music store on the planet, spread across 6 or 7 huge convention halls – in other words, heaven, hell, or a bit of both, depending on your point of view.

Last month I wrote about my trip to CeBIT – musikmesse is, as you might imagine, quite a different kind of trade show experience.  One thing both shows have in common, though, is their own iPhone app.  Driven by an app store model that’s made applications safe, easy to install/uninstall, and often free, the use of such disposable event-specific apps is on the rise.  In fact, a dedicated mobile app – complete with exhibitor lists, floor plans, GPS, and some degree of social networking functionality (usually twitter) – has become ‘de rigeuer’ for any self-respecting trade show these days.

So I decided to try musikmesse’s iPhone app out.

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You have the operating system.  You have your web browser – maybe it’s Firefox or some other extensible browser running half a dozen or more add-ons.  Maybe (like me) you have the Thunderbird email client, also with several add-ons installed.  Then there’s iTunes, Acrobat, Flash, Office – not to mention all the apps you’ve installed on your iPhone.  All in, you could easily have a dozen or more pieces of software, all regularly ‘phoning home’ for updates and alerting you to install them  – it all gets to be a little much at times, doesn’t it?
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