Steve Jobs To Keynote Apple Expo, Says "No New Hardware In Paris"

by , 11:00 AM EDT, August 21st, 2001

Apple has officially announced that CEO Steve Jobs will be giving the keynote for this year's Apple Expo in Paris. In the statement issued by Apple, Mr. Jobs is quoted as saying there will be no new hardware in Paris. According to Apple:

Apple today announced that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will give the opening keynote address at Apple Expo 2001 in Paris on Wednesday, September 26 at 9:00 a.m. CET in the Palais de Congres. Apple Expo 2001 will be held at the Paris Expo in Porte de Versailles, September 26-30.

"My keynote will focus on Mac OS X v10.1, the super-fast new version of Mac OS X, and our revolutionary new iDVD 2 software, which lets users create their own custom DVDs that can be played on consumer DVD players," said Steve Jobs. "This has been an incredible new product year for Apple, so we don't plan to launch any new hardware products in Paris this year."

Apple says that more information on Apple Expo 2001 can be found at its Hot News section of the Apple Web site, but as of this writing, there is no Apple Expo specific news there. As this press release hit the news wires before it hit Apple's site, an article on the Expo keynote may appear later today.

The Mac Observer Spin:

For those who may still have been in doubt, Seybold really looks to be date of the next PowerBook update. It's right after Apple's current free VST CD-RW drive ends, and it's before the Apple Expo. It is also about 9 months after the Titanium PowerBook was announced, which is Apple's usual upgrade cycle. No rumor-mongering here, just some plain old fashion Mac Observer analysis.

This is also a shot across the bow for people looking for new iMacs at the event. Everyone and their brother has been looking for a flat-screen iMac to come out of Apple. The units were largely expected to come at MACWORLD NY, but to everyone's disappointment, the iMac line was refreshed with the same industrial design and a faster processor. There is almost no chance the company would release a new consumer device at Seybold, and Apple is ensuring with this announcement that people don't hold off on buying a new iMac in anticipation of a new flat-screen unit. This is a most unusual move for the company, but we like it.

Kudos to Apple for coming right out and saying there would be no new hardware in Paris. It really helps let its customers know what to expect. We hope to see more of this openness in the future.

Apple