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Apple's Macworld Exit Due to Politics Not Health Issues?
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Didn't Schiller unveil the iMac G5, an entirely new form factor? (though that was because Steve actually did have to be absent for health reasons)
I wouldn't be surprised to see a new Mini, an AppleTV spec bump, or something similarly low-key.
I am pretty sure they will announce something ... but I don't expect it to be anything special.
Maybe the new Mac Pro and a 32GB iPhone, which isn't all that exciting.
I'd take spec updates on the:
Mac Mini
iMac
Mac Pro
Add in a 32 gb iPhone + talk about Snow Leopard.
I think that's all we'll see. I just don't think a tablet or anything else cool is realistic now.
Is he responsible for anything besides marketing at Apple? Besides this keynote now.
another death knell
This has the ring of monumentally bad news about it. I don't like what this evidences in Apple's philosophy. Guys, the Apple of yesterday is officially dead. The enclave/cult following/customer first Apple brand is gone, and replaced by a money making machine. Customer support over the next ten years will slowly but surely become abysmal compared to what it is now. Market share will increase and eventually be equal to Microsoft's, but much like WalMart's days under Sam Walton, Apple has built it's brand with Steve Jobs. Once Jobs is gone, much like WalMart, Apple will make more money but lose it's "soul".
This has the ring of monumentally bad news about it. I don't like what this evidences in Apple's philosophy. Guys, the Apple of yesterday is officially dead. The enclave/cult following/customer first Apple brand is gone, and replaced by a money making machine. Customer support over the next ten years will slowly but surely become abysmal compared to what it is now. Market share will increase and eventually be equal to Microsoft's, but much like WalMart's days under Sam Walton, Apple has built it's brand with Steve Jobs. Once Jobs is gone, much like WalMart, Apple will make more money but lose it's "soul".
I really think this is just a cost-cutting/message-control move. I don't think Steve is going anywhere.
As for whether Apple is just a money-maker and doesn't care about customers, at least wait until Snow Leopard to see if Apple can keep the OS X experience on par with expectations. If they can tighten everything up, keep the bugs at bay, and put stability back on par with, say 10.3, I'm confident in saying they still care about customers.
I'm sorry but that does not jive with one of Steve Jobs' comments in the mid-90s when he said that if he ran Apple again he would "milk the installed base." Best place to do that is at Macworld.
Look, I love Macworld too. But a lot has changed since the mid-90's. If you can't see that Apple has expanded away from the core group that helped it survive during the 1990's you're delusional.
The "core fans" no longer solely make Apple. It's moved past us to encompass a whole new generation of customers with iPod, iPhone and Mac of which we are included.
Why spend $5 million per year on a user conference that reaches 60,000 people when you can hold three or four "special events" each year that cost the company very little. Not to mention, such events can then be broadcast live to Apple's 230 retail stores and streamed on-demand to millions globally?
Bad timing...
I agree... for whatever reason they have for bailing, why wait (almost) days before making an announcement like this?! They're making it a real downer for some folks that expected an Apple / Jobs presence at MacWorld.
Would it have killed them to do the show, then maybe in a month, announced they weren't doing any future shows?! This is like your prom date calling at the last minute telling you she can't make it.
To me, a poorly timed decision by Apple. Of course, on the many books I've read about Apple Corps and Jobs, this is typical behavior. Sure, Apple's a business, but their customers deserve better than a last minute no-show.
I agree... for whatever reason they have for bailing, why wait (almost) days before making an announcement like this?! They're making it a real downer for some folks that expected an Apple / Jobs presence at MacWorld.
Would it have killed them to do the show, then maybe in a month, announced they weren't doing any future shows?! This is like your prom date calling at the last minute telling you she can't make it.
To me, a poorly timed decision by Apple. Of course, on the many books I've read about Apple Corps and Jobs, this is typical behavior. Sure, Apple's a business, but their customers deserve better than a last minute no-show.
If anything, its sites like this that made this kind of move inevitable.
Steve as much as sneezes and rumor sites act like a bunch of 13-year-old Brittany fans, obsessing about his every move.
I applaud his removing himself from the idiotic furor.
Macworld has been a dinosaur for 15 years and the way the stock as lived and died according to Steve's Keynotes, this is the perfect way for Apple to regain control of its release and PR cycle.
Steve as much as sneezes and rumor sites act like a bunch of 13-year-old Brittany fans, obsessing about his every move.
I applaud his removing himself from the idiotic furor.
Macworld has been a dinosaur for 15 years and the way the stock as lived and died according to Steve's Keynotes, this is the perfect way for Apple to regain control of its release and PR cycle.
So Schiller is giving the keynote. I wonder if Schiller will say "and there is one more thing" and Steve will take the stage with a new product and then end it all with a little speech about himself and the expected direction of Apple.
I guess we could have seen this coming when they removed computer from the name.
It would put a nice closure to all the speculation of Steve's health, future, and future of Apple.
I guess now there is really going to be no more reason for me to check out macrumors everyday. Just check out the apple website, drop by the store a few times to try out the product, then decide to buy when/if I am ready.
What no one is actually getting is that MacWorld was a chance to party, to meet fellow Macusers... to revel in all things Mac. My connection was not just with "Apple" it was a connection with the Macintosh community. Watching a crappy webcast doesn't do squat to address that.
It's a chance to let your hair down and party a little with fellow Macheads.
It's a chance to let your hair down and party a little with fellow Macheads.
How many of you run a business? Any kind of business?
A trade show is the best chance for a small company to get noticed, by the press or distributor. It is where the business cards are exchanged and deals are made.
Apple does not need MacWorld, but independent software and hardware developers do. MacWorld won't survive without Apple attending, and guess what happens to the ISV's?
Second, why would SJ not giving the last keynote? SJ SHOULD give the last keynote BECAUSE it is the last MW Apple attends. Think about all the fans who already got the tickets and have travel plans. If Apple came out 3 months ago and say "Sj won't do keynote", that's fine. However, just releasing this info now? Does it make sense to you?
And why did Adobe pull out of MW? Did Adobe know something we didn't?
And cost-cutting? How much more would it cost to have SJ do the keynote instead of Phil? ZERO?
Don't get me wrong - I don't think SJ=Apple. Apple will do fine with or without Steve Jobs, but I don't believe the explanation about the MW is that simple.
A trade show is the best chance for a small company to get noticed, by the press or distributor. It is where the business cards are exchanged and deals are made.
Apple does not need MacWorld, but independent software and hardware developers do. MacWorld won't survive without Apple attending, and guess what happens to the ISV's?
Second, why would SJ not giving the last keynote? SJ SHOULD give the last keynote BECAUSE it is the last MW Apple attends. Think about all the fans who already got the tickets and have travel plans. If Apple came out 3 months ago and say "Sj won't do keynote", that's fine. However, just releasing this info now? Does it make sense to you?
And why did Adobe pull out of MW? Did Adobe know something we didn't?
And cost-cutting? How much more would it cost to have SJ do the keynote instead of Phil? ZERO?
Don't get me wrong - I don't think SJ=Apple. Apple will do fine with or without Steve Jobs, but I don't believe the explanation about the MW is that simple.
This is a good move. Apple needs to turn down the hype machine for a while. It's starting to work against them.
This should also give them time to fully develop their products before releasing them.
But I don't buy this "politics" spin for a second. Since when has there EVER been politics at Apple? What Jobs says goes. End of discussion.
This should also give them time to fully develop their products before releasing them.
But I don't buy this "politics" spin for a second. Since when has there EVER been politics at Apple? What Jobs says goes. End of discussion.
You get the press for the whole industry in one spot, not just paying attention to Apple, but also to the software and hardware third party developers. You get hundreds (if not thousands) of articles written about Apple community (not just Apple) during the whole month because of it.
And those 60,000 people write blogs, defend Apple online(when was the last time you see anyone furiously defending Dell, on any news site or blog?), help Apple's marketing at a grass root level.
That $5M would be the best marketing dollar Apple spend, in good days and bad.
Skiing, I might have suspected, but I was certainly unaware of Steve's admiration of sky diving.
Perhaps Apple wants to make a splash the Consumer Electronics Expo and later NAB, then on to SIGGRAPH, to other Expos that target specific market segments that ultimately get squashed by the All-in-One MACWORLD.
That makes no sense! They don't move any product at trade shows! The Apple retail stores are a boon to any shopping center or mall that has them. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't aggressively renegotiate their leases in centers where business is slowing. In any case, the Apple retail stores sell a tremendous amount per square foot compared to other mall tenants.
I have another "reason" that Steve Jobs won't speak at the Keynote: he spoke disparagingly about the possibility of a Mac netbook. Maybe Apple is coming out with one and he doesn't want to face questions about why he called something junk while Apple was obviously developing it. Maybe there's a special "bag of hurt" version that has a BlueRay DVD drive as the optical drive!
And this is precisely why the deal fell through. Apple had terms to be met, and IDG was unwilling to meet them. SJ would not have pulled out of the East Coast MacWorld in '04 had IDG remained in NYC at Steve's request. Whatever the dispute, IDG needed to again realize that MacWorld will not survive without Apple.
And every time (except for the year of the iPhone announcement) stock has tanked after Macworld.
Apple has figured out that Steve=Apple is not the formula for a long future.
Cold turkey, dudes. Deal with it.
I think the emphasis of the message truly is on "complete control" as that seems to be the direction Apple has been heading for years now. I wouldn't be surprised if Snow Leopard requires all Mac software to be sold through iTunes and for Apple to get a 30% cut otherwise, they won't let the software run. Crazy? It's their model for the iPhone, why not the rest of the line as well? It'd generate billions and billions of free money. It'd be the new and improved Apple Tax. Don't like it? Go buy Windows or use Linux.
I'm so sorry for your loss. You will only know the joys of waiting up all night for those last second leaks, endless predictions weeks in advance, the aura of a keynote (although this one will not be as great) only once.
I've followed them since 2006 and I love them. I think we all are deeply saddened by this move by Apple.
And you can't get the same excitement by holding YOUR OWN special event? Do you not check Macrumors when Apple holds the iPod event in September? Or the MacBook event that recently happened? Or WWDC?
As far as the mainstream media (CNBC, CBS/CNET, Wall Street Journal, New York Times) and online blogs (Engadget, Gizmodo) are concerned, they'll still cover each and every event.
Not to mention, the various "Applerati" (Leo Laporte, Kevin Rose, Cali Lewis, Veronica Belmont, Ryan Block, Robert Scoble, etc).
With one minor difference, Jobs will be in a video from his hospital bed.
How can you post a smiley next to that sentence?