Some years ago, you could buy fruits, shoes and bikes @ the Hanover. fair, but then the electronics section was growing so big, that they decided it would be better to organize the consumer electronics' gathering as an independent event. The CeBIT was born.

This year's CeBIT is very much like any other you might have visited. There are many novelties, but only a few will really fight for money. Many technologies will just sink, because they aren't worth the effort, or just because there was not enough money / interest to back them up.

While the tendency still is Internet and miniaturization, there was too much mobile stuff in 2000! Everyone was trying to surf the web, with a mobile phone... or - more viable - with a PDA [Personal Data Assistant]. In many cases, having wireless access to the Net is "just cool", because most websites simply have not been designed to fit the poor resolution available, meaning that they will look awful, or they won't be possible at all.

But the future is easy to guess in what comes to mobile Internet: demand is growing, supporting technologies are getting more mature, and some websites already have a "PDA version". There are many companies recruiting web designers for small resolution, monochromatic displays! Kind of retro :)

Speaking of retro, "ZX Spectrum" kind of graphics, are back, because another growing scene is video gaming on a mobile gear... There are hundreds of titles already available, the most popular being GTA [Grand Theft Auto]...

One of the most interesting gadgets on exhibition, was "very" portable computer. Designers have been watching movies, and you can now buy a pocket PC, with a display that you read, more or less like you wear eyeglasses.

CeBIT 2000 (24 February 2000 - 1 March 2000) is history. The next CeBIT will run from 22 March 2001 to 28 March 2001, and it will probably be organized as this year's event, dividing the expected >8000 exhibitors in sectors: Information Technology, Network Computing, Automatic Data Capture, Development + Design + Production + Planning, Software + Electronic Commerce & Services, Telecommunications, Office Automation, Bank Technology, Cart Technology + Security Equipment, Research + Technology Transfer, Reseller's Center, and Industry Forum Design.