Ten years ago I launched Silicon Valley Watcher with a story about the Intel Developer Conference in San Francisco. The post was tongue-in-cheek because I have a theory that Intel's health is best measured by a simple metric: the quality of the backpacks given out at its conferences.

Intel is a notorious penny pincher (except where it matters) and if it is having trouble meeting its quarterly numbers its budget cuts are instant. Intel will even shrink everyone's cubicle space, maybe in the theory that productivity per square foot increases. Co-founder Gordon Moore kept a large round table in his cubicle. He said it was there so that they couldn't shrink his cubicle further.

Ten years ago the Intel backpacks were decent but not as good as those from just six months ago, and signaled a leaner time for the world's largest chip company. This year there seems to be a marked improvement in Intel's fortunes because the backpacks were of a much better quality.

Here's some images from this year's IDF: 

Acrobatics and DJs at Intel's wearable booth.

Tim Bajarin, principal analyst at Creative Strategies.

The always-on Ken Kaplan — hard working pioneer of Intel Insiders, Intel Free Press, and now at IQ - Intel's cutting-edge magazine — look out for paper cuts!

Marcus Yam (top) and Michael Sheehan from Intel Free Press show me their smart watches. 

The Internet of Beer. A SteadyServe iKeg connected to the Internet.

Intel's maker lab.

Chip analyst Nathan Brookwood at Insight64.

Sans-torso in wearables...

The yellow brick road leads to the wizard behind the curtain...