Say, is it just us, or are Apple's rejiggered priorities wreaking serious havoc with the established order of things in the Mac-centric trade show business? Of course you know all about the company's steadfast refusal to participate in next summer's Macworld Expo (ostensibly because Boston is just too much of a hole to visit, but don't forget that Apple considered pulling out of this year's summer Expo in New York as well). But did you know that Seybold-- the publishing conference that's traditionally Apple's second-biggest trade show, we reckon, at least domestically-- is Appleless, too? WIRED knows the score; without Apple as an exhibitor, the show had to "cut back on space" and "fish for other big-name exhibitors" to try to fill Apple's shoes, but still wound up "barren and sedate."

So Apple's absence is a little weird, right? Especially since Seybold is a mecca for content creators, i.e. professional Mac users, i.e. one of Apple's alleged "core markets" that's been sort of neglected for the past couple of years. It's no secret that professional sales had slipped, due in large part to a lack of Mac OS X-native creative apps and less-than-compelling performance gains in the Power Mac G4. So doesn't it strike anyone as a little odd that Apple picks now to skip Seybold? After all, with the dual 2.0 GHz Power Mac G5 now available alongside Carbonized versions of the most important Macromedia and Adobe products and the ever-elusive QuarkXPress, there's been no better time for Apple to go strut its stuff in front of the creative community. So why the no-show?

Well, since attending trade shows is obscenely expensive, we suppose it could just be all about cost-cutting, but apparently it's really just a matter of scheduling conflicts and those aforementioned priorities. See, while an Apple-free Seybold is cranking away at Moscone right now, OracleWorld is shakin' its enterprise thang at the exact same time-- and according to MacNN, Apple is both a full-fledged exhibitor and an "equipment sponsor" at the latter shindig. Hmmmm, sounds to us like Apple's newfound focus on enterprise sales led it to pick OracleWorld over Seybold. Pretty zany, huh, kids?

Then again, maybe Steve just wanted to catch Michael Dell's sure-to-be scintillating keynote address, "Enterprise Without Compromise." Steve, as you know, could really use some tips when it comes to public speaking, and ol' Mike is apparently a real master. For example, check out this excerpt from "Silvertongue" Dell's Mikenote as he explained his crutches and bum ankle (excerpt courtesy of The Register): "I was riding a horse, and the horse slipped and fell, and, of course, if you are on a horse, and the horse falls, you usually fall. The horse fell on my leg, and it didn't feel too good, but I will be alright."

Man, it's like Shakespeare. We've got goosebumps. We hope you took good notes, Steve! (By the way, AtAT sources inform us that Dell's injury wasn't from a horseriding accident at all, but rather from his keynote rehearsal, when he tried to leap around on stage screaming "GIVE IT UP FOR MEEEEE!" à la Steve Ballmer. Clearly that approach was a little too strenuous for him.)

Anyway, don't worry too much about Apple abandoning its traditional markets; the company will have a "major presence" at IBC in Amsterdam next week, where it'll focus on desktop video, and of course Apple Expo will take care of a wide cross-section of European Mac users right after that. And Apple will even target creative pros on this continent at PhotoshopWorld at the end of the month. We're still a little weirded out by the OracleWorld-over-Seybold choice, though. And why couldn't they just attend both? After all, they're taking place in the same convention center, for crying out Pete's sake-- how hard could it be? Three words: booth on wheels.