Head’s up that our man James Maguire is on the scene at the Mandalay Bay convention center in Las Vegas for the big Interop trade show.

Maguire, Datamation’s managing editor, has filed his first report from the cavernous Mandalay Bay, and he brings a lively touch to the proceedings:  

The event is mis-named, in a sense. It’s called “Interop,” short for interoperability, suggesting that these vendors want to play well with others. Well, kind of. In the hyper-competitive tech market, each vendor strives to “interop” with certain players while tossing a stiff elbow in the eye of others. Does VMware really want to be interoperable with Xensource? That’s like saying the New York Giants hope to partner with the New England Patriots.

The sight of all these vendors with booths side by side in the Mandalay Bay convention center highlights what a merciless business this is. There are too many players here for everyone to survive. And besides, technology devours itself like some constantly ravenous creature.

I don’t know if James has covered this show before -- it’s been around for more than 20 years -- back when it was called “Networld+Interop,” (pronounced “N plus I” by the technorati). Back then, it was at the Las Vegas Convention Center, far from the Strip, not at the Mandalay Bay, which of course is nestled in next to the Luxor, which sports the giant laser shooting up into the heavens, which can allegedly be seen by the Space Shuttle (a cabbie once told me.)

I have no idea how bad the cab lines are at the Mandalay Bay, but back in the day, 1.5-hour to 2-hour cab lines were not uncommon for N + I. It was great fun back then observing the cab lines and watching the little teams of similarly dressed vendor reps wilt in the heat outside the convention center.

At least with the Mandalay Bay, you’ve potentially got options if transportation is horrific. You might be able to sneak out to Mandalay’s labyrinth of swimming pools, and maybe even make it over to the big wave pool, where you can body surf a 1-foot wave, then get out, collapse on a lounge chair and suck down a huge Pina Colada. Then head upstairs to your room to write your stories for that day.

Let’s hope Maguire keeps the Interop tradition alive. Check back to Datamation.com for his reports from the show.