Steve Jobs' Magical Keynotes Go Missing

from the one-less-thing dept

Fri, Aug 18th 2006 9:32am — Carlo Longino

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.

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14 Comments

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Beefcake, 18 Aug 2006 @ 9:35am

Maybe it ain't just journalists
The new release of software that manages Fortune 500 companies (CEO-PRO) must be too buggy.
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Beefcake, 18 Aug 2006 @ 9:35am

Re: Maybe it ain't just journalists
Wow, two in a row. I should really get back to work.
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Beefcake, 18 Aug 2006 @ 9:39am

Too much coffee
A commenting machine this morning. I should shut my beefcake-hole.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Aug 2006 @ 9:42am

Yawn. And yawn again.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Aug 2006 @ 10:36am

He hasn't given a keynote at that even since 2003, it's not that strange.
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Dan, 18 Aug 2006 @ 11:45am

Simple... they need competition
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)
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Luke, 18 Aug 2006 @ 11:50am

Apple Shares
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
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Nathan, 18 Aug 2006 @ 11:54am

It was a *DEVELOPERS* conference
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.
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ontiltcasinogear, 18 Aug 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.
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Bob S, 18 Aug 2006 @ 11:58am

Woz
Time for the Magic of Woz
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Aug 2006 @ 12:40pm

Re: It was a *DEVELOPERS* conference
"It was a developer's conference"

So? That's never stopped his Jobsiness before.
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haha, 18 Aug 2006 @ 12:42pm

It wasn't lost or stolen...
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.
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eric, 18 Aug 2006 @ 1:21pm

cycles
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).
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Me, 19 Aug 2006 @ 12:21pm

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