Although DEMO is often thought of as a platform for startups, established firms were at the show in force, as well. Adobe showed off Apollo, a new platform for those who worry that too much of Web 2.0 is not a good thing.

Apollo offers nervous users the reassurance of desktop storage and desktop performance, Adobe officials say, overcoming 'the constraints of a browser.' At the same time Apollo will give developers the ability to work with the Web 2.0 tools they are familiar with to develop desktop applications.

Another old-line high-tech company, Wyse Technology, was on hand with a new concept in thin-client architecture dubbed 'N10' that uses intelligent software to legislate where software is processed.