Steve Jobs' Macworld Keynotes, 1998-2008 108
Ian Lamont writes "The Industry Standard has put together a collection of video highlights from Steve Jobs' Macworld keynotes since his return to Apple in the late 1990s. It's interesting to watch. Jobs was basically able to turn tech product demonstrations into convincing consumer spectacles that made even the simplest product feature — such as the handle on the clamshell iBook — seem innovative and utterly desirable. And while his appearance changed greatly over the years (compare his 1998 iMac demonstration with his "iPod Mini" keynote in 2004, when he was reportedly trying to treat cancer with a special diet), his enthusiasm never waned. Of course, he may make appearances at Apple's WWDC or other events, but a Macworld expo with Phil Schiller headlining just won't be the same."
Re:An old dude in a turtleneck... (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course the fact that his demos don't regularly crash midway through helps a lot.
Its almost as if he spends a couple of days on testing before the event. Imagine doing that amount of effort to avoid appearing an idiot in front of millions of people.
Re:An old dude in a turtleneck... (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, about the apple store. It's okay that they do what they want with it to withold a certain quality BUT on the other side of that coin they should allow users to install whatever they want on their phones (even if this introduces virus threats).
It's not like microsoft allows open source programs from their windows update do they?
And yes, they have drawbacks such as the locked in iphone 3g, but you know what: you don't HAVE to buy it you know...
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Steve is dead. (Score:1, Interesting)
We've all seen what Apple is like without Steve. We don't want to see it again. He keeps bring out desirable products and that makes us happy. It also gives his opposition fits.
Re:Looking at the videos, it occurs to me (Score:3, Interesting)
Whether or not a handle is something a laptop ought to have, details matter. I wish other manufacturers had this attitude; they copy stylistic elements from Apple, but while the result may or may not look great, they still miss important details like managing the cord on the power brick, or the power connector itself.
I was an early adopter of the HDD based mp3 player. I bought Archo's FIRST HDD mp3 player and it was a beast. It took 6(!) AA batteries, had the form factor of a cassette player and charged with an ugly wallwart. It had a reasonable capcity (10GB), but the UI was terrible. The screen was a tiny, muddy backlit mess and it was just about impossible to navigate through the tiny screen. A few years later, after giving up on HDD based mp3 players, I bought an iPod. It was my first experience with an Apple product since middle school.
Comming from a cruddy, unreadable display and a terrible UI to the ipod was a really interesting experience. The thought and precision that went into the design was remarkable. I was amazed at the ingenuity of the click wheel interface. Little things like the international swappable power adapter on the brick were a nice touch too. The short of the long is this: Apple doesn't just make stuff that works, they spend a lot of time (and MONEY!) making stuff that has well crafted details. Like the OP said, sometimes those details are downright silly, but the fact is somebody put a lot of thought into those details. The details, as silly as they might be, for the most part, work as they were intended to.
Other manufactures could do well to take a page from Apple and put as much thought into their products. Sony is a great example, they cram all sorts of awesome features into their products, but in the end, their devices feel cumbersome and difficult to use. And in my experience, every Sony device I've owned has some sort of fatal flaw, like my Sony TV that thinks it knows what my "favorite" channel is and switches to it repeatedly until I unplug it for an hour.