all outta jobs =( (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Apple announces final MacWorld, Steve Jobs won't deliver keynote - Engadget

Wow, that really really sucks. I like Phil Schiller but man it aint gonna be the same.

 

[DavidJ]

That does suck. I can understand the move, but it doesn't lessen the disappointment. It was an event and helped build the Apple culture and brand.

 

[Ted Todorov]

This is certainly a shock, but maybe not a surprise -- I suspect that after the MobileMe fiasco El Jobso decreed that no product would be released on some pre-determined schedule, leading to unready stuff going out the door. But Macworld remained a big obstacle, forcing Apple to announce *something*.

I just hope we are not subjected to yet more nonsense about Steve's health.

 

[Sam Posten]

At this point I don't honestly believe it's nonsense Ted.

 

[Ted Todorov]

According to Daring Fireball (IMO the most accurate Apple blog in existence) the whole thing is a fight with the company that runs Macworld expos, and is analogous to what happened when Apple dropped the NY/Boston Macworld.

This was also a re-run of a similar thing that happened to NeXTworld back in the day. When someone tries playing hardball with Steve Jobs they very quickly find out that the game is over.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You mean Jobs won't be ON like DONKEY KONG?

I'll miss the turtleneck, but anticipate good announcements as always.

 

[Sam Posten]

I wouldnt get too excited for new announcements. I think an updated Mac Mini and new Snow Leopard features are all we are likely to see. As Ted points out this is clearly Apple being Apple and wanting more control over how they get info out. So no Donkey Kong.

I still think it's a bad sign for Jobs health tho I trust Gruber more than any other Apple pundit. Will be interesting to see if Jobs is there for the Keynote or not. If he stays away it will only fuel the fires, if he's there it may potentially overshadow Schiller.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

This sounds depressing. After all, the companies founded by Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and Robert Wood Johnson foundered soon after the founders' deaths.

 

[Ted Todorov]

I think that a fully refreshed line of Apple Cinema Displays*; iMac bumps and MacPro bumps are possible, with the ACDs in the highly likely category. Another possible announcement is DRM free music by all majors, hopefully iTunes going totally 256kbps DRM free. That last one depends on agreements being reached in time for the show. One could craft a conspiracy theory that the record companies were trying to blackmail Apple for better terms, knowing that Apple was time constrained by a Macworld announcement only to have Apple call their bluff saying: "See, Macworld is meaningless to us." Doubt it, but this has about as much factual basis as the Steve Jobs health speculation.

Speaking of which, in general I am against Jobs proving his robustness every tie someone starts a phony rumor. But in this case Apple themselves caused the brouhaha, so it behooves El Jobs to call up the Times and tell them that he is alive and well and living in Paris.

*This prediction is fueled by my desire to be ordering a very souped up Mini (good NVIDIA graphics with Display Port and Firewire 800, please) along with a Display Port equipped 30" Apple Cinema Display on Jan. 7th.

 

[Sam Posten]

Heh, I'd be prepared to spend $2500 on an LED based Display port 30" =) I know they are long in the tooth but they are truly overpriced at this point and the new 24" is double what a comparable brand would cost, so I'm not too excited about em...

New Minis would be cool tho! The rumored $700 with souped up Nvidia graphics would be a great HTPC front end.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I'm dreaming of a glossy 30" display.

(Ducking for cover)

 

[Sam Posten]

You could use a 30" glossy Cinema Display as a shield against Medusa =p

 

[DaveF]

As others have noted, Apple can't revolutionize the personal electronics world every year, much less on cue in January. Looking at the current product line, a "simple" roll out of needed, incremental upgrades would be good.

And if Snow Leopard scrubs all of Leopard and makes existing systems -- like my 2007 MBP -- more stable, frees up a few GB of hard drive space, and maybe even a bit zippier, that will be a worthwhile upgrade. If it tweaks things, e.g. adding some needed features to Time Machine and Spotlight and Stacks, then all the better.

As for Jobs' health, I think too much is made of it. In the end, we're all terminal. Speculating over his health is foolhardy and ignores the reality that any executive of any company could keel over tomorrow, plunging it into confusion and ruin.

 

[Craig S]

I agree we'll probably see nothing more than line refreshes at Macworld. Minis & ACDs seem most likely, maybe Pros & iMacs. Also, I would expect iLife 09 and iWork 09 (it's been well over a year since these packages were upgraded). All in all, nothing earthshaking. Maybe that's why they've got Schiller in there, to lower expectations. I imagine the company is getting tired of seeing the stock tank after a Jobs' keynote doesn't live up to the increasingly ridiculous internet speculation that precedes it.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Great John Siracusa article on Apple's penchant for creative destruction.

From the above posted stuff, sounds like more than enough material for a full keynote. Heck remember when Steve was doing Photoshop bake-offs on the latest PowerMac vs. Windows? Keynotes have never been all about pulling rabbits or iPhones out of the hat.

EDIT: Thanks for proofreading Sam, so I don't have too

 

[Sam Posten]

Heh, I think you mean key notes

 

[DaveF]

Numbers needs serious work, and I look forward to the next version. I don't use iLife much these days, but I'm a sucker for the upgrade and hope for a worthwhile new version.

 

[Sam Posten]

The hits keep on rollin'
Where Is Steve Jobs? | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

When Wired starts questioning Jobs' health, I think there is something to it.

 

[ErichH]

Phil is a long second to Steve on stage. I remember 1 or 2 lesser event keynotes from PS. Oh well. What I miss more is the loss of 'On More Thing' from 3 years back

BTW, Dell sells a display port 30 now (3008) and last time I looked a refurb 3007 was around 750 bucks. That's a deal!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Coupled with this statement from Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster:Steve Jobs remains CEO of Apple. Apple could have diffused speculation regarding Steve Jobs’ health by having him keynote this year’s Macworld. While we do not believe that this change provides any indication regarding Steve Jobs’ health, we do believe that it is a sign that we are in the early stages of changing roles in Apple’s management structure.

and articles like Fortune's "After Steve Jobs, who runs Apple?" I'd say they have at the very least a serious PR problem after this decision. Even though the company has a very solid backbench, Steve Jobs is irreplacable as a salesman and cheerleader.