Computers

Computers

by Carlo Longino




Steve Jobs' Magical Keynotes Go Missing

from the one-less-thing dept

Steve Jobs' keynotes have taken on something of a mythical status, as the master showman takes full advantage of the spotlight to give Apple's latest product a huge introduction. However, many observers were left disappointed after his keynote at a company conference earlier this month, in which he didn't introduce anything they found too exciting, preferring instead to give a preview of the forthcoming update to Mac OS X. Some people even wondered if Jobs had been hit with a recurrence of the pancreatic cancer he'd had a few years ago, leading Apple to say Steve's feeling fine. Now comes word that Jobs won't speak at Apple Expo in Paris in September, a stage he's used several times before to show off Apple's new products for the holiday season. Is Apple's hit factory starting to sputter, or are the unremarkable and un-happening keynotes just a factor of Apple's development cycle. Investors sent shares down after the last keynote and its dearth of exciting new products, and the lack of any announcements in the near future could hold things down as well. Such reactions illustrate the value of Jobs as a marketing tool to Apple, reiterating the challenge the company will face whenever he decides to move on. Of course, maybe his hands are a little full right now to be bothering with product announcements, what with getting that iTunes movie store set up, or dealing with that little options backdating mess.

14 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
 

Reader Comments

(Flattened / Threaded)

    Aug 18th, 2006 @ 9:35am
  • Maybe it ain't just journalists

    by Beefcake

    The new release of software that manages Fortune 500 companies (CEO-PRO) must be too buggy.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Aug 18th, 2006 @ 9:39am
  • Too much coffee

    by Beefcake

    A commenting machine this morning. I should shut my beefcake-hole.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Aug 18th, 2006 @ 9:42am
  • by Anonymous Coward

    Yawn. And yawn again.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Aug 18th, 2006 @ 10:36am
  • by Anonymous Coward

    He hasn't given a keynote at that even since 2003, it's not that strange.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Aug 18th, 2006 @ 11:45am
  • Simple... they need competition

    by Dan

    Despite the fact that they are evil to the very core, I can't wait for MS to enter the music market.

    That'll motivate Steve-O to give us something great every year!

    Next up... Bluetooth, Wi-Max, full video screen and voice recognition! (I just made that crap up)

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Aug 18th, 2006 @ 11:50am
  • Apple Shares

    by Luke

    First of all, they announced the Mac Pro, which is just cool.
    Second, they have been spending a lot of time and effort switching their product base over to Intel platform (which is also awesome) and they deserve a little slack for that I think.
    Third, shares didn't drop because of the keynote, they dropped because of the stock options investigation:
    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ae2_HRnZHjZY

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Aug 18th, 2006 @ 11:54am
  • It was a *DEVELOPERS* conference

    by Nathan

    People, people, people. It was a developer's conference. It had plenty for devs to get all wound up about. Wait until something actually happens, not the lack of something happening, please.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    • Aug 18th, 2006 @ 12:40pm
    • Re: It was a *DEVELOPERS* conference

      by Anonymous Coward

      "It was a developer's conference"

      So? That's never stopped his Jobsiness before.

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    Aug 18th, 2006 @ 11:56am
  • stocks

    I like this line: "Investors sent shares down after the last keynote and its dearth of exciting new products"

    daytraders are retarded.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Aug 18th, 2006 @ 11:58am
  • Woz

    by Bob S

    Time for the Magic of Woz

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Aug 18th, 2006 @ 12:42pm
  • It wasn't lost or stolen...

    by haha

    I bet the key notes just randomly burst into flames like the new powerbooks...

    Seriously, did anyone check the paper tray on the printer? I bet the idiots at Apple were too stoned to remember they actually printed the damn things.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Aug 18th, 2006 @ 1:21pm
  • cycles

    by eric

    They go in cycles. Either he's the hottest thing lately and MS is doomed, or he's lost it and Apple is all but finished.

    I DO wish he'd wear something other than black so that investors could send gasoline prices plummetting (however the phreak you spell it).

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Aug 19th, 2006 @ 12:21pm
  • by Me

    STEVE JOBS IS NOT A TOOL!!!!! You're the TOOL you you...tool?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

Add Your Comment

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now.
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Plain Text HTML
Save me a cookie
  • Plain Text: A CRLF will be replaced by break <br> tag, all other allowable HTML is intact
  • HTML: No formatting of any kind is done without explicitly being written in
  • Allowed HTML Tags: <b> <i> <p> <a> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <hr> <tt>
Close
Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now.
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Plain Text HTML Save me a cookie

Search Techdirt
And now, a word from our Sponsors..



Subscribe to Techdirt's Daily Email Newsletter

Techdirt's Daily Email Newsletter

Related Stories
Close
E-mail It