Computex 2009 Taipei: largest computer exhibit in Asia

Computex Taipei is the world's leading ICT procurement platform, generating more than US$ 20 billion in 2008, with more than 1800 global exhibitors from around the world. It has become the largest computer exhibition in Asia and the second largest in the world, next to CeBIT in Germany.

Global businesses come to this event to launch their new products. Since a large portion of the businesses in the world have research and deployment centers or production facilities in Taiwan, this exhibition attracts observers, analysts, and journalists of computer and information industries from all over the world to discover and report the latest technologies, developments, and trends.

Taiwan’s IT industry has transformed from simple manufacturer to an industry of global logistics in design and manufacturing. From setting up R&D and technical support centers to global production and operation centers, it’s these companies across the island who have made Taiwan's IT industry a driving force in the world market. Taiwan holds many first places the world, and is way out front in the manufacture of wafers, IC packing, laptops, LCD displays, and data servers

According to Johnathan Adams, "...the best way to sell a transistor-packed, 256 bit-memory, 750mhz-clock-speed computer graphics card [is] with a fetching young woman in body-hugging vinyl, naturally."

Historically, Taiwan has had an on-going showgirl culture. And, their trade shows may be "one of the few places in the world where it's normal to tout a motherboard or similar geek-gear with two scantily clad women gyrating in unison to pulsing dance music."

But recently, although similar exploitation of women continues at trade shows across the world, including the United States, this sort of thing is being increasingly frowned upon as "offensive objectification of women".

A starting salary, in Taiwan, is about $900 a month; where, working a trade show can bring in as much as $1500 for just a few days of wearing skimpy costumes and gyrating around the floor. If you are good at public speaking and can handle working a microphone, you can make even more money. To many of these women, this is a second job, a way of making extra money. Some of them are teachers and nurses.

In Taiwan, this sort of job is not looked down upon, like it might be in other countries. The managers of the Computex Show look out for the girls and sexual harassment is strictly forbidden. The women who work these shows are willing and able, due to the fact that the salaries are so good.