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No MacWorld SF Keynote Broadcast?
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b-randomly said:
Maybe they should have let the Insult Comic Dog host the presentation. Now THAT would have been funny! But I guess, only in Steve Jobs' dreams.
I've read that there were actually THREE separate failures during the Microsoft demonstration (complete freeze/crash of the PC while trying to connect to a digital camera, a blue screen of death during another demo, and a repeated failure to run a slide show from within MS Media Player). That's almost got be be more than just bad luck. I can easily overlook one, but two is starting to be a bit of an embarrassment. Three, however, indicates that they DO have a problem.
SiliconAddict said:
Well, 300 x 100 will fill the screen of the new Apple PDA Steve is announcing next week!
Relaxed
Relax guys. A delayed webcast isn't that bad is it? As a matter of fact, I recall all the over subscribed live webcasts where the video is jittery with regular loss of feed. Delayed webcasts have always been a better experience from my end. I think this is a logical move. Although the lack of a live satellite feed to Apple Stores would be a silly move..
Relax guys. A delayed webcast isn't that bad is it? As a matter of fact, I recall all the over subscribed live webcasts where the video is jittery with regular loss of feed. Delayed webcasts have always been a better experience from my end. I think this is a logical move. Although the lack of a live satellite feed to Apple Stores would be a silly move..
fpnc said:
(Comic Dog voice) And now, ladies and gentlemen, here is Mr. Gates to demonstrate the latest technology from Microsoft!
<Gates demos, crashes ensue, followed by more crashes>
(Comic Dog) Don't worry about it Billy, we know that Microsoft makes really wonderful things. For me to poop on!!
I think that there are two reasons for delaying the feed. The first reason is to allow time to add in some extra production goodies such as split screens and titles. The second and more important reason is that they will probably use H.264 to encode it for much better quality and resolution. This means that anyone looking on their site for the stream will be directed to download a newly announced version of Quicktime in order to view it. This would be a good method to encourage early adoption of the newest version of Quicktime which would in turn encourage content providers to adopt it as well.
I guess there are few possible answers as to why it won't be broadcast.
1. Money. A live webcast is not cheap, that's for sure but it wasn't any cheaper in the past. So, money could be an issue, but I'm sure it's the only reason.
2. Bandwidth. As already been said, because of recent "rumours" this year's keynote might attract more attention than usual, so Apple didn't want to annoy the audience in front of their computers with a bad quality broadcast. Sure, they could extend their bandwidth but that would increase costs.
3. "Embargo". Apple, for some reason doesn't want to spread the word of new products through the broadcast. They might want the press to get their official press release first. A reason for this could be they want the press to get it right, i.e. Apple want them to inform their readers/viewers in a way that seems appropriate to Apple. An example for this could be some journalist who doesn't know Macs might see specs of the new headless Mac and tell his/her readers how bad the specs compare to contemporary PCs.
4. Fear of mishap. This has also been brought up already. They don't want to risk an embarrassing situation if something goes wrong. Tiger demo? iWork demo? Any other product?
5. Basically same as 4. In case those rumours were just rumours and therefore not true, Steve Jobs might give some sort of explanation (plus some *friendly* comments about rumour sites) to the audience and even more importantly to the press (through a press release). So they might cut that part later.
So in a nutshell, the reason why they are not going to broadcast the keynote life could just be a combination of 1. and 2. But I have a feeling, that at least one of the other points could be part of the reason, too.
1. Money. A live webcast is not cheap, that's for sure but it wasn't any cheaper in the past. So, money could be an issue, but I'm sure it's the only reason.
2. Bandwidth. As already been said, because of recent "rumours" this year's keynote might attract more attention than usual, so Apple didn't want to annoy the audience in front of their computers with a bad quality broadcast. Sure, they could extend their bandwidth but that would increase costs.
3. "Embargo". Apple, for some reason doesn't want to spread the word of new products through the broadcast. They might want the press to get their official press release first. A reason for this could be they want the press to get it right, i.e. Apple want them to inform their readers/viewers in a way that seems appropriate to Apple. An example for this could be some journalist who doesn't know Macs might see specs of the new headless Mac and tell his/her readers how bad the specs compare to contemporary PCs.
4. Fear of mishap. This has also been brought up already. They don't want to risk an embarrassing situation if something goes wrong. Tiger demo? iWork demo? Any other product?
5. Basically same as 4. In case those rumours were just rumours and therefore not true, Steve Jobs might give some sort of explanation (plus some *friendly* comments about rumour sites) to the audience and even more importantly to the press (through a press release). So they might cut that part later.
So in a nutshell, the reason why they are not going to broadcast the keynote life could just be a combination of 1. and 2. But I have a feeling, that at least one of the other points could be part of the reason, too.
They need to delay it a bit to give time for them to edit out the iBondage bits. That's why it's so secretive
I simply don't buy the "Bandwidth" argument. Seriously... Apple owns a good chunk of Akamai... and you don't htink iTMS generates a lotta bandwidth?? And the streams are MPEG-4, which don't take up that much room. Remmeber Jobs touting the efficiency of the CODEC a few keynotes ago??? He even gave a count of the number of people tuning in.
I don't buy the cost aspect of it either.
What is most likely the case is that Apple wants to stream the keynote to ALL it's AppleStores worldwide. And they want people to go to the APpleStores and watch it there. Kind of hokey... but it's a more plausible reason than saying "there's not enough bandwidth."
I don't buy the cost aspect of it either.
What is most likely the case is that Apple wants to stream the keynote to ALL it's AppleStores worldwide. And they want people to go to the APpleStores and watch it there. Kind of hokey... but it's a more plausible reason than saying "there's not enough bandwidth."
Well as long as I can watch it at somepoint that day I'll be more than happy. If it's only a few hours later than the live presentation I won't be shedding any tears
mgescuro said:
Except that MacInTouch is reporting that there will also be no live feed to the Apple Stores. Of course, that could change in the next few days.
As for the H.264 possibility. I think that is very unlikely since the H.264 codecs and the version of QuickTime to support them will most likely not be released until Tiger (OS X 10.4).
Interestingly, however, if they could release some of the codecs that were scheduled as part of Tiger that would help with the rumored 1GB flash-memory iPod. Since the HE-AAC audio codec is supposed to allow better sounding low-bit-rate encodings. Maybe they would add a footnote saying that twice as many songs could be encoded and stored using the HE-AAC codec. I don't expect that the Apple iTunes store will ever natively support bit rates below the current 128kbps. But if you could re-encode down to 64kbps and if Apple could find a way around any possible RIAA/record label objections then the lower bit rate might actually be acceptable to some users.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, reportedly miffed over a series new product leaks, has abruptly pulled the plug on the realtime webcast and satellite broadcast of his Macworld Expo keynote, according to an Apple memo forwarded to the MacInTouch website.
Damn, I would rather just have them shut down thinksecret and appleinsider
I guess we are all like kids, that peeked in his christmas presents a few days too early, and spoiled the surprise..Zaty said:
Zaty, I think that is an excellent observation. If these leaks/rumors do have anything to do with the apparent cancellation of the live broadcasts then you've described exactly how Apple should handle it. In fact, perhaps they should do this even if the rumors were mostly right. However, I'd guess that we won't see everything that has been rumored (i.e. some of us are bound to be a little disappointed).
Since we're planning Steve's keynote for him, it would probably be a decent thing for him to say something about the tsunami disaster. Apple has a fairly good record for responding to such needs.
Personally, I don't mind a delayed broadcast. For starters, live encoding usually results in worse video quality compared to encoding an existing video file (the encoder isn't forced to encode in real time and can encode as fast or slow as it wants to).
Secondly, as mentioned above, using a new codec (QuickTime 7?) will help spread adoption.
Last but not least, I'll be asleep during the keynote
Secondly, as mentioned above, using a new codec (QuickTime 7?) will help spread adoption.
Last but not least, I'll be asleep during the keynote
Enough with the self-righteous entitlement, already. It's not going to kill you to not see a live satellite feed. If it was really life-or-death for you to hear it live, you'd be there. You're not going to be there. Get over it.
I doubt the headless mac will be available until March or April, anyway, so don't freak out, it's not like someone's going to get in the order line ahead of you forcing you to get serial number NNNN+1, as if that matters anyway, either. And you'd better hope that, being an early buyer, there aren't component failures in the first hardware revision... didn't a lot of people compare these to the ibooks?
I doubt the headless mac will be available until March or April, anyway, so don't freak out, it's not like someone's going to get in the order line ahead of you forcing you to get serial number NNNN+1, as if that matters anyway, either. And you'd better hope that, being an early buyer, there aren't component failures in the first hardware revision... didn't a lot of people compare these to the ibooks?
jcdenton said:
Here's another snippet of info. I hope it's all wrong though.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=1197793#post1197793
I guess Steve figures that it's his party: he can cry if he wants to. Well I think he should grow up. Treat his customers like he likes them for a change.
What a tragically brilliant yet messed-up CEO he is.
The MWSF keynote broadcast to my beloved Pasadena Apple Store is a big annual highlight for me. I'm deeply disappointed by this news. I guess it's just one more example of the "members only" elitist B.S. that proves what a corporate sellout the world is.
What a tragically brilliant yet messed-up CEO he is.
The MWSF keynote broadcast to my beloved Pasadena Apple Store is a big annual highlight for me. I'm deeply disappointed by this news. I guess it's just one more example of the "members only" elitist B.S. that proves what a corporate sellout the world is.
yamabushi said:
Split screens are actually much easier to do live than editing it in during post-production. And for titles all you really need to do if hire any bum off the street to click the "next" button on a computer whenever you want the next title. Really simple stuff that is easier and cheaper to do live. I should know, I have to do these types of events all the time...