Computex 2020 Cancelled; Coming Back In 2021
by Ryan Smith on June 12, 2020 8:00 AM EST
After a protracted battle with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, this year’s Computex trade show has finally succumbed to the pathogen.
One of the world’s largest IT trade shows – and frequently a venue for major PC-related announcements – Computex 2020 was scheduled to take place last week. However due to the coronavirus and all of the health and travel restrictions born from it, back in March the show was delayed and rescheduled for late September. But as it turns out, even a 3 month delay won’t be quite enough to make the show work, and as a result event organizer TAITRA has given up on plans to host the trade show this year.
Calling the latest change in plans a “rescheduling” of Computex, the show has been officially moved to June 1st through the 5th of 2021. Which means that although the show overall has not been canceled and that there will be another Computex next year, for all practical purposes the 2020 show has been cancelled.
In the brief announcement, TAITRA cited the ongoing travel restrictions as being the primary reason for cancelling the 2020 show. Taiwan is still largely banning foreign nationals from entering the country, which if still in place in September, would pose an obvious issue to attending the trade show. At the same time, the original plan to reschedule the show to September was always a bit of a dicey proposition, as the delay put the show out of sync with annual product release cycles and fewer companies were planning to attend, leading to TAITRA scaling down the show accordingly.
Notably, this makes 2020 the first year that Computex has been cancelled entirely. Even in the SARS outbreak of 2003, the show was successfully moved to September. Which goes to show how much more serious and disruptive SARS-CoV-2 has turned out to be.
Source: TAITRA
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shikibyakko - Monday, June 15, 2020 - link
So, if you infect people with any other virus which result in their deaths, not a problem.But if the virus is SARS-CoV-2, then it is a tragedy.
PeachNCream - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
It seems like the people that organize Computex do not feel the same way about the situation that you do.shikibyakko - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Sadly, and Computex will suffer from that decision.Arbie - Friday, June 12, 2020 - link
2021, when the virus won't be as contagious or deadly.lmcd - Friday, June 12, 2020 - link
If there's a vaccine or effective treatment plan, could be viable.sorten - Friday, June 12, 2020 - link
I think the odds that we have an effective vaccine, and it's been administered to large enough percentage of the population by 6/2021, are pretty small.shikibyakko - Friday, June 12, 2020 - link
This is the start of a new middle ages. A destroyed economy and society living in fear of a divine punishment for not following a strict social and moral code that in the end only makes everyone miserablesorten - Saturday, June 13, 2020 - link
New middle ages? No. We're nowhere near the level of crisis brought on by the Spanish flu, and "the economy" survived that experience.shikibyakko - Saturday, June 13, 2020 - link
There was no global lockdowns with the Spanish flu. There was no large global border closures because of the Spanish Flu.Not to mention, the Spanish flu was a level 5 pandemic, this is at much a level 3, and the reaction is like nothing we have ever seen before.
Basically everyone ignored the recommendations for this type of pandemic, went into full panic mode, and stayed there even if the facts became clear.
sorten - Saturday, June 13, 2020 - link
The responses to the Spanish Flu were varied. Some cities, such as Chicago, stayed open and even had a public parade, and ended up with hundreds of thousands of deaths. Other cities locked down.Which facts have become clear? You think we should open up? Arizona has opened up and infection rates have tripled. Texas has opened up and infection rates have doubled.