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Diary of a CeBIT lover

Normally, the very mention of the word CeBIT is enough to strike fear into even the hardiest tech journalist, but I'm starting to fall in love with it

Jason Jenkins Director of content / EMEA
Jason Jenkins is the director of content for CNET in EMEA. Based in London, he has been writing about technology since 1999 and was once thrown out of Regent's Park for testing the UK's first Segway.
Jason Jenkins

I'm in Hannover, Germany for the CeBIT technology show. Normally, the very mention of the word CeBIT is enough to strike fear into even the hardiest techie journalist, but I'm starting to fall in love with it. The show gets a bad rep for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, it's massive. Each show hall is roughly the same size as the Birmingham NEC, and there are 26 halls, so it's a nightmare trying to see everything. It can rightly claim to be Europe's largest consumer show.

Secondly, if you attend CeBIT, you can't stay in a hotel, as there simply aren't enough rooms to cope with the volume of people attending the show. Instead, you stay with a German family, just like you did years ago on a school exchange trip. Mine are very nice, although their house smells like a teenage boy has sprayed all the furniture with a can of Lynx deodorant. And it's 20 miles from Hannover.

But although it's a bit of a beast, the show runs very well -- it's busy, but not as claustrophobic as CES in Las Vegas, and there's a roof office to work in, which makes a huge difference.

What also makes it pleasant is there are loads of sexy new gadgets here -- check out this page for the cream of the crop.