Jobs Not Giving This Year's Macworld Keynote 371
Many readers including thermopile wrote in about Apple withdrawing from Macworld Expo after this year. The other bad news for Apple fans is that Steve Jobs won't be delivering the keynote in 3 weeks — we may have seen his last "one more thing." Apple VP Phil Schiller will be doing the honors. He's "an Apple executive notably lacking in Jobs's showmanship and star power," according to the Fortune blogger. Apple's press release states that "trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers." While this may be true, the keynote addresses have been a critical venue for major new product announcements. Apple's stock is taking a 6% hit in after-hours trading, possibly on concerns about Jobs's health. Reader Harry has gathered together YouTube clips from most of the Macworld keynotes Jobs given since 1997.
iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Interesting)
I have been following Apple for more than 20 years, including stints at MacWorld and today's headline is a repeat of the mini-drama that Apple has been having with the Expo for decades. But today is different.
Ignore the dispute about who controls MacWorld Expo's agenda. Apple feels like on top of the world (always has) and they want absolute control. But they also had found a great recipe for success. Two years ago, on the cab from the caltrain station to Moscone, the taxi driver asked us if we were there for this new "iPhone thing". The hype was just so big, the distortion field so powerful, the force was with Apple.
Somehow, no cab driver ever asked me about Android.
Think of the history: the iPod, the MacBook Air, the iPhone... By having someone else present the keynote this year, our collective expectations just sunk by an order of magnitude. I, for one, don't expect anything amazing this year. But on the other hand, it's only fair: even Apple can't pull off revolution after revolution, year after year. Give them a break, they are doing so much already by showing everyone how boring other products are.
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iPhone Apps review site [applicationiphone.com] looking for bilingual testers
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Ill tell you this. Planning your product schedule around trade show sucks. Why do it when your the big dog and you can easily host your own events. You plan your event when the product is close to being released.
Your right, if you can drum up the hype any time you need to, why let someone else set your schedule.
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Interesting)
And there are no words for how much the MWSF schedule sucks. When I realize how many employees at Apple, Adobe, Canon, and hundreds of other vendors are forced to skip Christmas vacation every year to get products and show displays ready for that horribly timed conference, it makes me want to shove my foot up IDG CEO Bob Carrigan's you-know-what. If the conference were in February, those employees would almost certainly be happier, plus it would likely cost those vendors a lot less in extra compensation to make up for keeping those folks through the holidays. If the show were in February, they might not be watching their vendor list drop like flies....
Scheduling a trade show for the first full week in January is just plain abusive. Maybe this will get IDG to extricate their crania from their posteriors long enough to figure that out.... I won't hold my breath, though. I'd imagine they're getting a hefty discount from the Moscone Center for booking during a week that nobody in their right minds would touch with a ten meter pole.
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That was then, this is now. I personally have been asked to work through Christmas for products that were going to merely have a demo at MWSF, not even to begin shipping then. They still ostensibly have the holiday shutdown but the number of times they say "except for this project" has been rising steadily every year.
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Hey, John, care to guess which team this AC is on? :-D
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think this was bound to happen when Apple made the switch to Intel. Apple traditionally releases product on these big events - MacWorld, WWDC (more to the things developers want), and other big conferences. New product appears on a regular schedule, and advances could be easily plotted. This was because Apple's source hardware (e.g., PowerPC) roadmaps were quite tightly sealed, and thus, Apple could gather up momentum leading up to the event on what the next big thing was.
But now, Intel and AMD have roadmaps known to the public way in advance. New chips, chipsets, graphics, etc., come out monthly, and there's no way Apple can wait 6 months to the next event to showcase their latest computers, using a CPU/chipset/GPU everyone else has been shipping the past 3 months. Apple can't wait for these big events to announce new product, because they happen at inconvenient times.
Apple is large enough that it can draw a huge crowd easily, which it does with these "spotlight" meetings/keynotes. The advantage is that Apple can release product around the same time everyone else releases product. A new chipset released by Intel? Well, hold a spotlight and release the new notebooks within a month or two from the first manufacturer releasing them, before it becomes "old news."
Apple has to release product, and they can't wait for the Next Big Expo to do it - to compete with all the other PC manufacturers now, they have to release in a timely fashion. (Think about how long it took for Apple to release Santa Rosa notebooks - everyone else had them for months!)
Once Apple went Intel, they have to follow Intel's schedule for product releases, which won't coincide with most of the Mac Expos. Or get left behind releasing old technology, with everyone annoyed waiting for the notebooks to use the latest and greatest. It's not practical for Apple to wait - they have to release. Holding a spotlight meeting is easier than holding a random Expo (scheduled months to years in advance) to release product in a timely manner.
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the only revolution apple has ever pulled off is a marketing revolution. the ipod, macbook and iphone do nothing other gadgets haven't before. indeed on many technical levels they are inferior, especially the ipod.
You could not be more wrong.
Sour grapes.
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Want to know something... Gapless playback and album art is an advance. This is what gets me with geeks and programmers. Instead of focusing on what the client wants, they focus on what they *think* the client wants.
And guess what the client wants album art... This is why Apple is a rocket and Google with its android a dud...
The day of the techie and their ueber geek arrogance is gone, they need to start delivering products clients want...
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This is why Apple is a rocket and Google with its android a dud...
Right, Apple and Google are the only two companies in this brand new-fangled market of mobile phone technology.
Re:She's Right (Score:4, Insightful)
Its not so much the "day of the techie" but shifting markets.
In some way this is similar to the way the Wii has dominated this generation of console development. It hasn't brought better graphics (barely improving on GameCube level), it bundled in a Gimmick of a controller, but what they DID was appeal to a much larger audience that normally wouldn't have even bothered buying a console.
Buy enlarging the market, and taking all of those new users as their own, they retook the console lead.
Likewise the market for handheld and smartphones is blossoming from "techies" and pure business users, to everyone. Techies and business users each have one set of requirements. A device that appeals to everyday users has another set. Ultimately what powers the iPhone's appeal is two things. The first is a simple and elegant interface design. When the first gen iPhone came out people were talking how it didn't have more features than other smartphones, but it made the features it had more accessible, so more people were using them. The second thing the iPhone has going for it is the App Store. The success of getting people to develop applications for the iPhone help transfor the generic device into something that can fit what each user needs. The fact that Apple acts as gatekeeper also tries to keep a consistent level of quality in the apps (even if you don't agree with their decisions about what Apps are allowed in the store).
For android to match that, they'll need to match both things. I haven't seen the interface live but the demos I've seen look functional but slightly less "polished". The thing they can't match though is the App Store. Until they develop enough of a critical mass of programs, they won't be able to, and without some central and easy way for micropayments to happen that developers buy into, its tougher to gain the momentum.
The other thing the iPhone has going for it is just what you said "Gapless playback and Album Art". Lots of people own an iPod. An iPhone integrates directly with their iTunes library which, for many people, is a big plus right there.
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Want to know something? Android has already outsold the iphone...
Want to know something true and founded? Apple has outsold Windows Mobile and the HTC Touch is no where near competitive. Being Android's sole phone on the market, I'd say iPhone outsold Android. See here [cnn.com].
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Other than that it does everything people generally need. I can't think of anything else I've truly wanted it to do other than play my flac and ogg files.
Re:She's Right (Score:4, Funny)
She's right. Apple is the AOL of mp3 players and has dumbed down the interface and lowered expectations so much that people think gapless playback or album art is a major advance in the state of the art.
Guess what: most people who buy "mp3" players want to (duh!) listen to music on them. Apple have provided a nice, clean, clear way of doing this, something which many other players (especially the cheap'n'cheerful ones) have made a complete pig's ear of (Windows Mobile, anyone?)
Geeks don't like having to use iTunes but obviously haven't spent enough time on the Helldesk to understand that lusers aren't always very good at copying files around, or working out what drive letter their USB device has appeared on.
Apple actually understands the difference between a general purpose computer that geeks can program and customise and a domestic appliance which "just works".
If you buy a general purpose computer from Apple these days, it comes with a complete set of developer tools and all the Unixy command-line goodness that a geek could want (or you can just slap Linux on it). Buy an iPod, however, and, shock horror, it works like an appliance in that is a bit closed with a simple interface, for much the same reason that TVs haven't come with vertical hold and convergence knobs since sometime last century.
gapless playback or album art is a major advance in the state of the art.
Yeah, I know - if only all those iPod customers realised that if they'd only applied the kgpzdzi patch to their lame tarball and re-built it with --enable-no-session-margin, then added the knobwurst repositories to their apt.conf and done apt-get upgrade xine that (provided they re-ripped their CDs with the -qZpxt options to cdparanoia) they could have had these features months before the iPod.
Plus, sadly, you only really need gapless playback for prog rock and the people who make Apple's money for them seem to prefer Britney.
Even the Amarok player, despite being named after a prog album with a single 60-minute track, seems a bit biassed towards track-based music.
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:4, Insightful)
Their marketing is done in the same way as marketing for other companies. In many ways it is technically inferior. Yet here you are saying how good it is?
Stating you dont own their products undermines the credibility of your assertion that their products are no better than the competition.
On the face of it it might seem that way. Sure, you can go to the Apple store and play with them, but its no comparison to owning and using on a daily basis.
I'm not suggesting their products are perfect, but their attention to detail is what sets them apart.
Clearly I am going to come across as a fanboy, but I can assure you thats not the case, i'm just recounting my personal experience.
The iPhone blew away every other other PDA/Smartphone I owned in terms of usability.
The new macBook Pro is a great peice of kit. I had doubts about the cost it did seem like a hell of a lot of money.
I'm starting to understand where that money went though. The amount of time saved not 'fixing' things (I'm looking at you linux/windows!) the battery life, the build quality (the 'unibody' is not a gimmick imho. makes for a very solid chassis) and all the little things (light up keys - now they have been fixed - are really useful. the fact the screen dims automatically in the dark) start to add up. Yes I know its not amazing tech, it doesnt have to be.
I'm ranting now. Maybe I am a fanboy after all. sorry. you can mod me to hell now ...
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Interesting)
the ipod, macbook and iphone do nothing other gadgets haven't before. indeed on many technical levels they are inferior, especially the ipod.
One thing Apple has done well, since its beginning, is to make technology exciting for the masses. Most of that is marketing, to be sure. But it always takes marketing to push technology into general use.
True, Apple entered the portable mp3 player market late, and with an, arguably, inferior product. But, through marketing and tight integration with the computer, managed to get 90% of people to trade in their Discmans for iPods. They were able to dominate a market which didn't even exist a few years before (and probably would not be nearly as large without Apple).
From the Apple II, to the iMac, to the iPod, and to the iPhone, Apple has managed to create mass markets where none existed before. I don't think that fact can be overlooked. Whenever Apple comes out with a product, they are trying to open up larger markets for technology, even when they fail (Newton).
The other thing Apple does well is make money. Lots and lots of money. Metric buttloads of money.
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:4, Insightful)
To be fair, Steve Jobs is the guy who made all that possible.
We've seen what Apple is without him... bankrupt.
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Informative)
That may be the worst pun I've read on Slashdot in years....
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Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, I'd argue that Apple entered the portable MP3 player market at the right time. Consider the market at the time - small flash-based players that could barely hold 1 album, maybe 2 if you compressed them below 128kbps, or humongous hard-drive based MP3 players that were larger than a discman (i.e., the Nomad), or when they weren't, were huge bricks.
Now, Apple releases an MP3 player that has most of the space of the large hard disk players, but is only maybe 1 1/2 to 2 times of the flash-based player. Oh yeah, and instead of syncing via painfully slow USB 1.1 (or parallel/serial!), it would work at firewire speeds. So copying lots of music to the hard disk takes minutes, not hours (1GB would take around 15-20 minutes via USB 1.1 versus 2-5 minutes via firewire...).
So what did Apple do? They released an MP3 player in a formfactor that's usable, and made filling it much less of an all-nighter thing and something that someone can do on their way out the door.
Oh yeah, they also marketed the heck out of the iPod, and made everyone who would normally carry CDs or listen to tapes... consider buying one and carrying their entire collection in a handheld device, rather than a huge stack of CDs. Instead of MP3 players being relegated to the realms of the techie, Apple made them wanted and usable to the masses.
And Apple did this a month after 9/11 - when no one was willing to spend $600 nor have they fully recovered. Apple won out because Jobs seized upon the concept just as it was beginning to take off, then when the huge growth happens, they were already on the 3rd generation iPod (total sales under 1 million units at the point, yet it was the #1 selling MP3 player). Boom, the market takes off, Apple has a refined 3rd generation iPod on sale, and people start wanting iPods and MP3 players, to the point where Apple sells millions per month.
Apple got really lucky with the iPod. They were at the right place at the right time.
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, they were. And they were very lucky with the MacBook. And once again with the iPhone. Lucky bastards, making stuff that people actually want to buy. Jeez, what were they thinking?
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know if it was luck or a really good understanding of where the industry was going, but the iPod popularity is significantly different than the MacBook or iPhone.
The MacBook took the existing Mac product line, improved it, and grew more popular for a number of reasons... the Intel switch, the improvements in OSX and the recent developments that have made the OS less and less critical are the first things that occur to me. While popular, it doesn't absolutely dominate the market. Its simply a healthy growth of one of Apple's oldest product lines.
The iPhone was a new move into an already well-established market. It has generated new interest in smartphones and helped to push other vendors to improve their products; however, it hasn't ridden the boom of a new market to complete dominance in the same way that the iPod has. iPhone is not (yet?) synonymous with smartphones, and despite strong sales doesn't have the absurdly high installed base.
However, the iPod came out when MP3 players were a niche product for techno-geeks, and rode the growth of the market to have a 70%(?) market share. I can't say whether it led to the growth of the market or simply rode a trend that would have occurred anyway, but needless to say, the iPod's place in the market is stronger than either the MacBook or the iPhone. They are synonymous with the market as a whole, have dozens of companies making accessories... iPod compatibility is even listed as a selling feature on cars.
The supposition of Apple getting lucky makes sense to me. If they're product hadn't been so well developed (at 3rd gen) by the time of the boom, or if some other companies had had better developed products at the time, with well-developed music stores, I can see the iPod being a 20%-30% market share product, that while still successful wouldn't be the cultural phenomenon it is now. And note that I type this on a Macbook Air with my iPhone beside me and my iPod in the car, so believe me when I say I have nothing against the company.
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Funny)
iPhone brought in the first touch screen
Right ...
No need to read further than that I guess ..
First touch screen? (Score:5, Insightful)
Are you serious? I have had nothing but touch screen phones since 2001.
The models I used actually started out as pure touch screen and then added keyboards (retaining the touch screen) because you can type faster with buttons (and the Xerox graffiti lawsuit). You can also touch-type with buttons.
The iPhone has nothing really new except that it was marketed to everyone and not just PDA users. Suddenly smartphones are "cool" because Apple makes one. That's fine.
I've been a Mac user for over 20 years. I'm typing this on a Mac. I'm glad Apple is doing well.
I'm also glad that people still make real smartphones like Treos, because I am a PDA user and I refuse to give up meaningful features for marketing fluff and looks. My four-year-old Treo model has many, many features that the iPhone lacks, including multimedia features like stereo bluetooth support and over a decade's worth of third-party software available directly from the people who developed it.
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I'm also glad that people still make real smartphones like Treos, because I am a PDA user and I refuse to give up meaningful features for marketing fluff and looks. My four-year-old Treo model has many, many features that the iPhone lacks, including multimedia features like stereo bluetooth support and over a decade's worth of third-party software available directly from the people who developed it.
I'm with you there - except that Palm dropped the ball on PalmOS in a major way. For instance, the version of PalmOS installed on the Treo 650 has a fun little bug - where if the device crashes while a database is open, the database ceases to exist. This is a known bug, they even fixed it - but they couldn't be bothered to issue a patch for the people stuck with this problem... PalmOS in general is in a sorry state these days. And most everything still runs on the PACE M68K emulation layer, which is rea
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Apple was hardly the first to use a touch screen, any more than they were the first to use a mouse or a windows operating system.
They did the same thing in all three cases--figured out how to make it usable and consistent.
Look at all of the reviews of the iPhone wannabees. In the end, after pointing out all of the extra features, the reviewer ends up conceding, "nevertheless, the touch screen interface does not work as smoothly or as intuitively as the iPhone's."
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I disagree with you. Apple is synonymous with smartphones. At least in the eyes of consumers.
Sorry, but if you really believe this, it's safe to say you've been buying into the marketing too much. Blackberry was synonymous with smartphones to the average user before the iPhone was even announced, and still is.
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And they make an interface even a 2 year old can use. My daughter knows how to press the home button, swipe to unlock, then swipe over to the app she wants "Star Wars" or "Bubble Wrap" and play for 5 or 10 minutes. It is also tough enough I have no problems letting my daughter use the phone under supervision.
The iMac maynot be revolutionary, but is one of the nicest looking desktops you can buy.
Linux is far more functional than OS X, but over all, OS X works well, and installation really is a simple insert
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And 2000 was the year of Linux on the desktop
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You should try using some of those products. Yes, the iPod doesn't make coffee, but your coffee maker doesn't play music. If you want coffee, don't buy an iPod.
The same goes for their other products. And yes, I use Apple, Dell, HP, etc products.
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The only thing I want in life is a coffee maker that also plays MP3s, you insensitive clod!
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....on many technical levels they are inferior, especially the ipod....
That is why the technically superior Zune was such a hit! It was the one that let users "squirt" DRM infested songs to other Zunes. That is why they are selling like hotcakes and nobody has ever heard of these boring gadgets called iPods.
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:4, Funny)
Next time I'll buy a nice faeces-colored Zune and I'll be squirting with the jetset!
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"Next time I'll buy a nice faeces-colored Zune and I'll be squirting with the jetset!"
You, sir, disgust me.
Back OT, personally I prefer archos players because they don't insist on iTunes.
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It's not just the touch, amarok screwed up a friend's new-gen nano in the same way. No crypto signing on the index or some such thing. Apple seem to have gone out of their way to screw non iTunes users in the latest generation.
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I also enjoy the subscription music service. The 3 Zune's in my family can listen to all the music they want for $15/mo total.
the Zune software is Just as bad as Itunes as bloatware, so that's a wash.
But the radio a
You don't get it... (Score:5, Insightful)
What good is having the latest tech where you have to dig it out a seven-level-deep menu structure to use it? Having a clean, simple interface is the key to succes.
And I'm not a Machead by a long shot, either.
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:4, Informative)
Are you completely ignorant of the history of computing? Apple shaped the entire way we interact with computers - Windows, Linux are both heavily influenced by the original Mac OS. And yes, now you'll bitch about XEROX PARC and all that... again, missing the point. Apple did not invent the GUI, but put a lot of hard work and great ideas into refining it into a mainstream product. Even the mouse was shaped by Apple - no, they didn't invent the mouse, but again, refined it from being a technical curiosity into a workable, durable item. They put a lot of research into making it something that was smooth and didn't break easily. Go look it up some time.
Inventions are one thing, but turning inventions into real-world products is just as difficult and challenging.
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:4, Insightful)
Hmm, gotta disagree there.
You have to consider the package as a whole. Not just the raw technical specifications or feature list.
The iPod was simply far better at its core feature when it was launched than any other player. I would argue that by not losing sight of the vision of a small, portable, music player they didn't get caught up with vast featurelists like other players until they could do it the best way. Styling has, of course, helped greatly - but it's not Apple's fault their competitors wanted to sell bricks.
The iPhone's interface is simply still far better and smoother than any other competitor. The difference isn't as much as with the iPod when it was launched, and the competitors are catching up faster this time.
The MacBook has Mac OS X. That's a massive technical advantage for many people, from different viewpoints. I shouldn't need to go into this in detail.
You can market generation n+1/2/3 devices all you want, but if people weren't satisfied with generation n then people won't buy. Apple has such high satisfaction ratings that they surely are hitting people's needs pretty much spot on.
I must also point out that I think Apple peaked already, and quality appears to be going down. There's no excuse for not having a wider range of computers to actually compete in the market. The Mac Mini is so out of date that Dell have better looking and specced offerings!
I don't think you understand (Score:5, Insightful)
By saying that you show that you completely misunderstand the mindset of the Apple customer.
People that buy Apple products are not concerned with motherboards, chipsets, memory speed, CPU or other technical details so much (except perhaps MacPro buyers, esp. if they come from PC background).
People that care about that build their own PCs (I have certainly).
People who buy Apple want their computer to be transparent, they don't want to tinker with it endlessly (like that guy fixing old cars in his garage and never having it actually working, he just enjoys tinkering - kind of like Linux people early on).
If you say macbook is just like any other laptop then you don't get it. Look at any other laptop and just look at the level of "noise" on the keyboard designs these days. Find me one keyboard that doesn't scream at you with 5 things written on each keyboard with different colored letters, keys non-standard width or position etc.
That's just one detail, and then look at the beauty of simplicity of classical Macbook keyboard. It just disappears, and doesn't scream at you.
Macbook aluminum case feels so solid and sturdy, better than any other laptop I have ever held. And it does not have things written on it all over the place (certainly not stupid metal labels like Intel Inside or built for Vista), or things glued to it at the bottom containing certain product key.
The computer is sophisticated and simple, understated like luxury European sedan (think BMW, a lot of people don't get that one either, that's why you see idiots that put chrome wheels, and fart exhausts on their BMW).
And then we get to other soft things like the OS. That one is a topic on its own, but the joy of using OS X would be worth it to me even without these other things.
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Insightful)
the only revolution apple has ever pulled off is a marketing revolution. the ipod, macbook and iphone do nothing other gadgets haven't before. indeed on many technical levels they are inferior, especially the ipod.
A very wise person once pointed out to me that it doesn't matter how cool or great a product you have; if you can't convince someone to buy it it's useless.
Never underestimate the importance of marketing (and sales) to success. People buy something because it fills a perceived need; convincing them that they have that need is an important part of the sales process.
Having a good product helps; but being a better product than others is not enough, by itself, to ensure you win. Technical superiority is nice; but unless you can convince people it has value then it's just something the extreme fanboys will argue over (wether is a computer, car, camera, stereo, etc.)
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The two most important features of an mp3 player are the interface and the capacity. The ipod does a pretty good job with both. Make that an excellent job. It is a little overpriced relative to similar sized devices, but the interface works better.
Note that pet format support and a super high quality DAC are niche features that most people couldn't care less about.
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People keep bringing this up as if it matters. It doesn't. The iPod is, on a technical level, more than adequate for virtually everyone who uses it. More importantly, on a user interface level, it is pure simplicity to use. So, it's easy to use and does what the user wants. The fact that mp3PlayerX may do this better or oggPlayerY may do that better doesn't matter - the iPod does what the vast majority of people want it to do and it d
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I'm pretty sure they'll let you run anything you want on a MacBook, iMac or Mac Pro. In fact, I'm pretty sure they run ads advertising this fact.
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... as long as it's not Windows.
Wrong. [apple.com]
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:5, Funny)
Which is why Ubuntu is dominating the desktop market while Apple is fading away into oblivion. Ubuntu offers everything anyone could dream of on the desktop while Apple is listening to nobody.
This is all because all anybody cares about when using their home desktop is whether or not they can view the source code to the applications they run and if they can recompile the kernel. Usability has nothing to do with it for the average Joe.
Re:iPod, iPhone, then what? (Score:4, Funny)
Dang! That was a close one.
That joke was headed straight toward your head but luckily you ducked in time.
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Let me be the first to say (Score:5, Funny)
Nooooooooo!!!
Fearless Leader, why have you forsaken us?
I promise not to bitch about the lack of firewire in the new Mac Minis, unlike my faithless ranting about the new MacBooks! Just come back.
If I don't get my regular of RDF rays I go all wonky and think about buying crap from Dell! Or running Darwin on a home built system as a back end media server!
Help us Steve Jobs, you're our only hope!
Time Article (Score:4, Interesting)
This article about Job's not doing the keynote [time.com] says the worries this is generating about his health are hurting Apple stock. Is there any other company with it's perception of viability so closely linked to a single living individual? I'm unaware of any right now. It's makes this whole thing pretty interesting. He is a human and can't live forever, regardless of how his health is right now. It seems maybe they have seen that with the earlier rumors about his health and have realized they need to start building a transition while he is still around so the company wont take as big a hit when he is gone.
Or maybe it is all much more mundane than that - but I've never seen this type of announcement gain so much press before. It's on every MSM news outlet as well as all the tech sites.
Re:Time Article (Score:5, Funny)
"Is there any other company with it's perception of viability so closely linked to a single living individual?"
I don't know, I think a lot of investors would be OK with Steve Ballmer keeling over.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Time Article (Score:5, Funny)
The Catholic Church(tm).
Re:Time Article (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Time Article (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Time Article (Score:5, Informative)
I live in Omaha, and trust me, Berkshire Hathaway's meetings every year noticed by folks far and wide who have nothing to do with Warren Buffet. He's at least as strongly connected personally to his company as Jobs is to Apple. The problem is Warren has a strong "Reatily Clarity Field", and thus is far less of a rockstar then Jobs.
Kirby
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Or, did you mean to limit the question to the technology field?
Re: (Score:2)
There may be many - but so far 2 have been mentioned - 1 of them repeatedly and they don't even make anything.
Quick (Score:4, Funny)
Somebody think up something that includes the term "beleaguered".
Re:Quick (Score:5, Funny)
iBeleaguered?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I am using the word "beleaguered" in a sentence.
There.
Don't worry (Score:5, Funny)
That's why the imagineers invented animatronics.
Look, really? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Look, really? (Score:5, Funny)
We know Steve is going to die, someday.
Why do you hate Apple? Hater.
Re:Look, really? (Score:5, Funny)
We know Steve is going to die, someday.
Even if it's only for three days.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
We know Steve is going to die, someday.
Even if it's only for three days.
Plus 1, Blasphemous!
Hmm well (Score:5, Insightful)
> "trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers." While this may be true, the keynote addresses have been a critical venue for major new product announcements.
Maybe they don't have anything.
I suspect you are correct.. (Score:2)
Maybe not this round, maybe they have something, but they may have decided they may not always be able to have a sufficient product announcement that conveniently follows a dedicated trade show schedule. No other company off hand I can think of that has run a routine dedicated trade show in a very long time.
Compounding their woes, in the weeks leading up to an Apple trade show, whatever announcement they are working up to is either exposed prematurely or else proves disappointing next to the rumors that sp
If you want to see a real Steve Jobs Keynote... (Score:4, Interesting)
... checkout this presentation from OpenStep Day, 1995 [youtube.com] in which Jobs applies the famous reality distortion field not to iPods and Macs, but to Corba, OLE, Web Objects, and other Enterprisey Middleware.
And the "One More Thing" moment? Using Netscape 1.0 to demo Web Objects and Windows NT 3.1 interoperability.
Re:If you want to see a real Steve Jobs Keynote... (Score:5, Funny)
Risk of a rickroll? Pansy. Kids these days... In my day, we risked seeing a man with his anus stretched to almost athletic proportions or something even worse.
You kids with your 80s love ballads are so freaking spoiled.
goatroll (Score:3, Funny)
What if someone took a video of a goatse-style feat, and edited it to make it effectively lip-sync "Never Gonna Give You Up"? Best of both worlds?
Yeah, I'm bummed, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
... don't be too hard on Phil. NO ONE has Steve's "showmanship and star power." At least he's kind of fun and entertaining. Should still be good. And as fun as it is to watch him Steve present, what will matter after the RDF wears off is what was announced. The only difference between Steve and Phil presenting is that with Phil, you'll notice the one secret sucky thing Apple builds into every product within 30-90 minutes instead of the customary 6-36 hours.
Just remember to buy on the rumor, sell on the announcement, and start the framework of your "This product is the BEST THING EVER except for the (crappy battery life/DRM/Apple lock-in/no wireless)" blog entry so you can just fill in the blanks and be the first one to share your oh-so-valuable opinion with the world. Be sure to talk about how Apple is going to be out of business in 3 months because they didn't listen to you.
In other words, just sit back and make the usual preparations and get ready to enjoy the Last Big Show.
Bummer (Score:4, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
What year is this? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's 2008. Steve Jobs has already delivered the keynote at Macworld 2008 [slashdot.org].
Next year is 2009.
I guess I lucked out (Score:3)
I opted out of going to Macworld this year. I'd been to every east-coast (boston/ny) macworld and keynote from 1996-2000, including the famous one where bill gates was on the giant screen to announce the apple/microsoft partnership for Word and IE. I've also been flying out to california for the san fransisco expos for the last couple of years, but after last year, I realized that the show doesn't cater hardly at all to true pro users... sure, they have pro software, like for graphics and stuff... but their developer section has been lacking since Codewarrior dropped support for the Mac, and as a Unix admin, there is almost nothing there for me anymore.
In the last 8 years, I've found that if you drop all of the laptop cases, ipod accessories and digital camera stuff, you're left with a pitiful handful of office application (*ahem* microsoft) and minor productivity and music companies. There used to be lots of management tools vendors, high-end graphics and storage workstation suppliers and similar cool stuff... but no more.
So, I guess I lucked out since I didn't book a flight or hotel for this year. Save $ and disappointment.
Re: (Score:2)
Cue the "Jobs is dying, Apple is doomed" stories.. (Score:5, Insightful)
...and watch the stock crater tomorrow.
Unfortunately, ever since Jobs lost significant weight as a result of his surgery (an obligatory side effect for the type of surgery he had), MacWorld keynotes have become a "Steve Jobs Death Watch" for the press. Before, during and after the keynote, more ink is spent on speculations regarding his health than the product announcements.
I think one side benefit of Apple's abandoning MacWorld is the press can no longer turn it into a morbid event.
Re: (Score:2)
I believe a very large part of that can be blamed on Apple. When lawyers and the SEC are involved, the lack of a strong denial sounds like a confirmation. To my knowledge, Apple has never said "Steve is not sick--" they've only flirted with the question ("Steve's BP is 120/80") or avoided it ("We're not here to talk about Steve's health.")
A simply-worded denial could dramatically tone down the questions, if that's their goal.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I can't say that I agree with you. The "large part" of the blame lies with sensationalist journalists and stock price manipulators.
Name one other company where people demand they to go on record regarding the health of the CEO when some band of journalists decides to perform an amateur medical diagnosis based on photographs and videos.
Senator Bill Frist was rightly admonished for performing a "video diagnosis" of Terri Schiavo...and he has a medical school degree. Why should Apple respond when a bunch of bl
Re: (Score:2)
Lawyers and the SEC? I've heard nothing of lawyers or the SEC demanding information regarding the CEO's health.
The only people speculating and demanding disclosure are blowhard journalists and stock market manipulators. The basis for their "concern" is purely from an ignorant and amateur medical diagnosis based on pictures and video.
Hell, Senator Bill Frist was rightly admonished for performing a video diagnosis of Terri Shiavo and he has a medical school degree.
Why the hell should Apple's board respond to
Independent media events (Score:2)
Expensive and unneeded (Score:2)
Strikes me, tradeshows are an expensive proposition for the computer industry with the Internet abound. I might help the little guy - but - then again you're only able to 'show' your product to people willing to pay to visit the show. I see the only practical use of tradeshows now is if you're selling specific products where you really need to talk to your customer ( e.g. a retail buyer) - cart parts, floor tile and carpets, fitness equipment, make up. With these are the sorts of things, the Internet hasn't
Makes perfect sense (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm sure Steve -or one of his handpicked henchmen- will keynote at WWDC to make the fanbois happy. As to his retirement, if I was in his place I'd be thinking of the Gates strategy to ease myself out of the business. After all, he's as human as the rest of you.
It's true. (Score:5, Funny)
Steve Jobs doesn't care about Mac people.
The fanboys don't matter any more (Score:4, Interesting)
Apple doesn't need Macworld because Apple doesn't need fanboys any more.
The Apple fanboy crowd is totally irrelevant to the iPod/iPhone line - those are mass-market consumer products. The laptop product line is aimed more at the status-conscious crowd. Neither market is the Macworld demographic.
It's a gong show (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm going to guess that Apple is backing out of Macworld SF because it's so poorly run that no one wants to go. $20k for a table? sure. five 30" Cinema displays 'go missing' from the loading dock? sorry, not our fault, not our problem. Need a new outlet? You have to hire one of our electricians. How many hours do you want him for? oh, we don't know how long it'll take, you have to figure that out yourself.
The company that runs Macworld runs it half-assed, they don't care about attendees because they know they're the only game in town and people will pay regardless, and they don't care about vendors, because again, you need the exposure or your competitor is going to get it first.
If we're lucky, Macworld will die off and be replaced with something better.
The Inetbook (Score:3, Interesting)
Oh, what does some wuss Fortune blogger know? (Score:4, Funny)
He's "an Apple executive notably lacking in Jobs's showmanship and star power," according to the Fortune blogger.
Nonsense! Behold and rejoice! The era of Schillermania begins! Phil! Phil! Phil! Phil! Phil! Woooooooooot!
Does that mean... (Score:3, Funny)
that people going to MacWorld will be without Jobs?
What's good about trade shows.... (Score:5, Interesting)
With so much information available online, and with the ability to purchase things with just a few mouse clicks, why would I go to such a trade show today? For me, that's easy.
So I will once again show up at Macworld SF and will hope that IDC will find it profitable to continue running the show. That gives companies the chance to show their stuff rather than struggling to get their product stocked and displayed by the Apple retail store or other merchants (who show only a tiny percentage of what's available out there). I'm likely to show up at future Macworlds, too, since my purpose for attending isn't to see Apple's products, but to see everything else.
Re:One More Thing (Score:4, Funny)
The 2009 keynote has happened. As expected, no revolutionary products revealed. Nothing of note. Just a refresh of the Mac Mini. Just as the mac faithful are just about to pour out of Macworld, downtrodden, a voice rings out of the microphone.
"Just one more thing."
Steve Jobs, healthy and fit and in his trademark turtleneck, stands with his hands clasped together at the podium. He smiles as the audience members fall silent, taking their seats. "We aren't quite done yet... Say 'hello' to the..."
New CEO of APPLE... (thunderous yet slightly confused applause dies down)
Jobs in a slightly coy flirtatious voice...."Come on out Steve"..