Photos from IFA 2006: Gaffes and glitches

By Mary Lojkine on 05 September 2006, 9:31am

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There are several things you can count on when you attend a big German trade show like IFA 2006. By lunchtime, you'll feel like you've walked around the world at least once. You probably won't get any lunch, and if you do, it'll be a big chunk of meat, with a miniscule bread roll wrapped round it like an edible napkin. You'll get lost at least once. You'll miss at least one meeting because you're at one end of the show and your contact is at the other, half an hour away. And thanks to the mixture of cultures, languages and technology, you'll spot several things that are unintentionally funny.

For starters, there's the official IFA carrier bag (above). What's the message supposed to be? There you are on the right, a happy orange fishy in a big glass dishy, and instead of luxuriating in all that space and fresh water, you're going to leap into a much smaller bowl full of other fishes? It's an accurate summary of the trade show experience, but it's not exactly enticing.